Many, many thanks for uploading the schematics for the project. As a newcomer to electronics at the age of 77 I’d managed to work out the bulk of the schematics from the code but hadn’t yet worked out the wiring for the MP3 player. I’m just waiting for final component from Amazon and I should be ready to go. My next project will be to build a wireless version which i might push up to 6 players.
Your code works great! I don't have a mp3 player, so i had to take out audio stuff. The only oddity I'm experiencing is that it always registers a player buzz as two clicks. Player 1 buzzed in Player 1 buzzed in CORRECT. Reactivating all players Player 1 2 3 4 Score 0 0 1 0 Reactivating all players Player 2 buzzed in Player 2 buzzed in Thanks so much, my students are going to love it!
Love it! What great timing. Just last week, I was using one of these with my year 9 and 10 science classes. I built it around 20 years ago, all analog based around 4 thyristors as triggers, with 4 LED's and a buzzer. The tactile buttons are mounted on the top of clear film canisters (if anyone can remember them) each with an LED inside. For connecting to the control unit I used 5 pin din plugs/sockets. I was thinking just last week I need to make larger, more visual buttons, with better sounds perhaps some automatic scoring. The arcade buttons are a great idea. Thank you! I did think of wireless, but I'm not interested in having to worry about four additional sets of batteries.
Ah, I often used to use empty film canisters as waterproof enclosures for small electronic projects! (often with different degrees of success....). A couple of folks have mentioned wireless buttons, but I tend to agree with you - the additional copmlexity, and hassle of managing batteries, and concerns over latency/lag probably isn't worth it (fwiw, I'm just using cheap speaker cable to wire each button to the host panel, and you can buy it in 100m rolls very cheaply)
@@PlayfulTechnology Also, with a cable attached, it helps control the space and stops players from wandering around with the device - I could imagine my year 9's getting a bit too excited and passing it around.
I made one for a children's entertainer many years ago before Arduinos, it used either a PIC or AVR programmed in assembly, it had an early audio record/playback chip so each contestant could record their own name or sound. I slight overkill thing was it could deal with dead heats, all buttons were diode OR'd to an interrupt pin which if triggered read the whole port at the same time so a dead heat/draw could be detected.
One pretty easy thing you can do to help with storage is use 3.5mm panel mount stereo audio jacks on the buzzers and control box, then connect them via aux cables. That way you can store them without the cabling getting in the way. Bonus advantage of the cable probably just coming out instead of breaking if a buzzer is dropped or pulled by an overexcited child. Ethernet jacks/cables should work as well, though most of the wires won't be used. The biggest advantage being that it's super-easy to make a cable in any length you want for different situations (e.g. shorter cables for the dinner table, longer for a classroom scenario).
As it happens, I do have a wireless version as well - it uses a D1 Mini in each button box and communicates over an ESPNow mesh. The only slight issue is that wireless communication necessarily introduces a very slight delay between the button being pressed and it being registered by the server. In the overwhelming majority of cases it wouldn't be perceptible, but (having hosted a pub quiz myself for many years with some _very_ competitive teams!) I want to ensure there's no scope for teams to accuse the host of them having pressed the button but that detection to be delayed. It can probably be addressed by having a synchronised timestamp on every device, but I'll need to do a few more tests first to measure what the lag is, and whether it's even worth accounting for (and things like whether proximity/interference from other nearby Wi-Fi networks affect it etc. etc.)
@@PlayfulTechnology I’m thinking perhaps 433mhz remote relays, that way a) there’s no delay and b) no need to run battery or network, so essentially the same as your solution but with remote relays instead of wires. Can you foresee any issues with this (other than rewiring the button on the remote so an arcade button fires it off). I’ve got a quiz coming up that I’m jointly hosting and I want to get away from the whole “swapping papers” malarkey
@@ImperialLightandMagic But if you've got multiple buttons all simultaneously transmitting on the same 433MHz frequency, how are you preventing interference?
@@ImperialLightandMagic I used ESP32's with the ESPnow protocol for this to reduce wiring, I was annoyed with the displays as the art department were supposed to add gels to increase contrast which they didn't. It had very low latency and worked in a TV studio with wireless cameras and mics nearby. ua-cam.com/video/9NKLju08Pas/v-deo.html
I am new to building and programming the Arduino and I am very impressed with the projects that you run through on your site. I would very much like to build this quiz project but being inexperianced I do not have the skill to build and connect the hardware. Is there a circuit diagram anywhere for the build?
Hi, am loving this and would like to try, although it's been 40 years since I did any coding and that was BASIC. If I make this set up it would be for the charity quiznight I do each christmas so my question is can I get it to run 6 buzzers off the nano ESP32 board?
Each buzzer requires 1 GPIO for the buzzer input, and 1 GPIO as the LED output. A Nano has 17 GPIOs that you can use without any modification (D2-13, and A0-A4), so yes can definitely support 6 buzzers!
Fantastic build! I have (hopefully) a quick question: I built the same game shown in your video, following your wiring diagram and code (thanks for sharing!!). The system works awesome, but every now and then, randomly, the correct answer button will trigger the incorrect answer code, and visa versa with the incorrect button, triggering the correct answer code. This happens randomly with each maybe 1 out of 30 presses. Any idea what would be causing this? I checked for stray wires and poor connections with no issues uncovered. And it only happens as the buttons are pressed, not randomly as though it’s getting a “phantom” input. Thanks for your help!
How long are the wires that you are running from the controller to the buzzers? Besides an obvious loose connection, my only thought is that the wire run is so long that the resistance is not sufficiently different to overcome the pull-up resistor on the inputs?
Hello, good day! may i ask if you have schematics for your system? I would like to try to build this myself for Q&A games this upcoming xmas parties. Thanks
maybe a smaller scoreboard on each of the button bases where players can see their score as well on top of maybe like t3chrs suggested a bigger screen for everyone to see the score
Hi. I’m from a Senegalese school named PRYTANEE. It’s located in Africa. We are looking forward to developing our Science Club and projects like this matter as the first footsteps to a child that aspires to become an ingénieur or developper. The project is amazing, great work. We wanted to do something like this and we wonder if it doesn’t bother you to help us with the wiring. Your help would be greatly appreciated to extent that African students want to integrate this techno science to their learning.
Hi, I have been doing a Live TV production with a lot of Quiz shows, I am still using an analog Quiz lockout machine made by my cousin back in 2008, Now that I saw your video, I really like to make them, I have download your github file, But will it be possible if you can share me a wiring diagram of the unit ?
Many, many thanks for uploading the schematics for the project. As a newcomer to electronics at the age of 77 I’d managed to work out the bulk of the schematics from the code but hadn’t yet worked out the wiring for the MP3 player.
I’m just waiting for final component from Amazon and I should be ready to go. My next project will be to build a wireless version which i might push up to 6 players.
Your code works great! I don't have a mp3 player, so i had to take out audio stuff. The only oddity I'm experiencing is that it always registers a player buzz as two clicks.
Player 1 buzzed in
Player 1 buzzed in
CORRECT. Reactivating all players
Player 1 2 3 4
Score 0 0 1 0
Reactivating all players
Player 2 buzzed in
Player 2 buzzed in
Thanks so much, my students are going to love it!
Love it! What great timing. Just last week, I was using one of these with my year 9 and 10 science classes. I built it around 20 years ago, all analog based around 4 thyristors as triggers, with 4 LED's and a buzzer. The tactile buttons are mounted on the top of clear film canisters (if anyone can remember them) each with an LED inside. For connecting to the control unit I used 5 pin din plugs/sockets. I was thinking just last week I need to make larger, more visual buttons, with better sounds perhaps some automatic scoring. The arcade buttons are a great idea. Thank you! I did think of wireless, but I'm not interested in having to worry about four additional sets of batteries.
Ah, I often used to use empty film canisters as waterproof enclosures for small electronic projects! (often with different degrees of success....). A couple of folks have mentioned wireless buttons, but I tend to agree with you - the additional copmlexity, and hassle of managing batteries, and concerns over latency/lag probably isn't worth it (fwiw, I'm just using cheap speaker cable to wire each button to the host panel, and you can buy it in 100m rolls very cheaply)
@@PlayfulTechnology Also, with a cable attached, it helps control the space and stops players from wandering around with the device - I could imagine my year 9's getting a bit too excited and passing it around.
I made one for a children's entertainer many years ago before Arduinos, it used either a PIC or AVR programmed in assembly, it had an early audio record/playback chip so each contestant could record their own name or sound. I slight overkill thing was it could deal with dead heats, all buttons were diode OR'd to an interrupt pin which if triggered read the whole port at the same time so a dead heat/draw could be detected.
Nice solution!
One pretty easy thing you can do to help with storage is use 3.5mm panel mount stereo audio jacks on the buzzers and control box, then connect them via aux cables. That way you can store them without the cabling getting in the way. Bonus advantage of the cable probably just coming out instead of breaking if a buzzer is dropped or pulled by an overexcited child.
Ethernet jacks/cables should work as well, though most of the wires won't be used. The biggest advantage being that it's super-easy to make a cable in any length you want for different situations (e.g. shorter cables for the dinner table, longer for a classroom scenario).
Or, make a wireless version.
Thanks
Love it, would absolutely LOVE a wireless button version, perhaps using ESP32 wifi and a battery in each button box.
As it happens, I do have a wireless version as well - it uses a D1 Mini in each button box and communicates over an ESPNow mesh. The only slight issue is that wireless communication necessarily introduces a very slight delay between the button being pressed and it being registered by the server. In the overwhelming majority of cases it wouldn't be perceptible, but (having hosted a pub quiz myself for many years with some _very_ competitive teams!) I want to ensure there's no scope for teams to accuse the host of them having pressed the button but that detection to be delayed.
It can probably be addressed by having a synchronised timestamp on every device, but I'll need to do a few more tests first to measure what the lag is, and whether it's even worth accounting for (and things like whether proximity/interference from other nearby Wi-Fi networks affect it etc. etc.)
@@PlayfulTechnology I’m thinking perhaps 433mhz remote relays, that way a) there’s no delay and b) no need to run battery or network, so essentially the same as your solution but with remote relays instead of wires. Can you foresee any issues with this (other than rewiring the button on the remote so an arcade button fires it off). I’ve got a quiz coming up that I’m jointly hosting and I want to get away from the whole “swapping papers” malarkey
@@ImperialLightandMagic But if you've got multiple buttons all simultaneously transmitting on the same 433MHz frequency, how are you preventing interference?
@@ImperialLightandMagic I used ESP32's with the ESPnow protocol for this to reduce wiring, I was annoyed with the displays as the art department were supposed to add gels to increase contrast which they didn't. It had very low latency and worked in a TV studio with wireless cameras and mics nearby.
ua-cam.com/video/9NKLju08Pas/v-deo.html
@@ImperialLightandMagic Also ua-cam.com/video/C8_qKI2EF7w/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/F0KSmA5b2Bs/v-deo.html
This is a great project! Thanks for the detailed explanation
Do you have a schematic for this build?
I am new to building and programming the Arduino and I am very impressed with the projects that you run through on your site. I would very much like to build this quiz project but being inexperianced I do not have the skill to build and connect the hardware. Is there a circuit diagram anywhere for the build?
Hi, am loving this and would like to try, although it's been 40 years since I did any coding and that was BASIC. If I make this set up it would be for the charity quiznight I do each christmas so my question is can I get it to run 6 buzzers off the nano ESP32 board?
Each buzzer requires 1 GPIO for the buzzer input, and 1 GPIO as the LED output. A Nano has 17 GPIOs that you can use without any modification (D2-13, and A0-A4), so yes can definitely support 6 buzzers!
Hi sir i am from India i want to know . About Wirering of the circuit please tell me
Fantastic build! I have (hopefully) a quick question: I built the same game shown in your video, following your wiring diagram and code (thanks for sharing!!). The system works awesome, but every now and then, randomly, the correct answer button will trigger the incorrect answer code, and visa versa with the incorrect button, triggering the correct answer code. This happens randomly with each maybe 1 out of 30 presses. Any idea what would be causing this? I checked for stray wires and poor connections with no issues uncovered. And it only happens as the buttons are pressed, not randomly as though it’s getting a “phantom” input. Thanks for your help!
How long are the wires that you are running from the controller to the buzzers? Besides an obvious loose connection, my only thought is that the wire run is so long that the resistance is not sufficiently different to overcome the pull-up resistor on the inputs?
Brilliant video! Do you have the circuit wiring diagram? Thanks
Hello, good day! may i ask if you have schematics for your system? I would like to try to build this myself for Q&A games this upcoming xmas parties. Thanks
You should post the wiring schematics and build of materials.
maybe a smaller scoreboard on each of the button bases where players can see their score as well on top of maybe like t3chrs suggested a bigger screen for everyone to see the score
Hi. I’m from a Senegalese school named PRYTANEE. It’s located in Africa. We are looking forward to developing our Science Club and projects like this matter as the first footsteps to a child that aspires to become an ingénieur or developper. The project is amazing, great work. We wanted to do something like this and we wonder if it doesn’t bother you to help us with the wiring. Your help would be greatly appreciated to extent that African students want to integrate this techno science to their learning.
Love it! Well done!
Thanks so much!
Hi Alistair, am I seeing correctly that the mp3 component is set to one-line mode? Looking forward to building this, great vid!
No - I use them in serial command mode.
unable to programme for DFplayer mini,,,pls help
I am from India. Can you make one for me? It should contain for 4 to 6 players as per needed. How much cost will come?
I’m envisioning a ws2812 matrix to display scores and game state.
Hi, I have been doing a Live TV production with a lot of Quiz shows, I am still using an analog Quiz lockout machine made by my cousin back in 2008, Now that I saw your video, I really like to make them, I have download your github file, But will it be possible if you can share me a wiring diagram of the unit ?
Brilliant!
why my sound not play went button press
Can you give us the requirements?
So much fun!
Thanks! This is cool
Nice project. Lots of fun
Looks great but please can you help this noob with the wiring diagram?
Please circuit diagram please
Sir please provide circuit diagram please
Please
please, be my dad.