Arduino first press buzzer game :: Student Project

Jeopardy, The Price is Right,  Family Feud – who doesn’t love a good game show from time-to-time?

Ever wonder how the buzzers in those game shows work?  One of our customers, Eleu Mangornong from Canada, wondered…and he was pretty sure he could make his own buzzer system with an Arduino.

And that is just what he set out to do, check out his project below.

Why the heck did you build this Arduino First Press Buzzer game?

I’ve always loved trivia game shows.  I was watching a game show and started wondering how the buttons, lights, and buzzers all worked together.  I figured it would be a great learning exercise to test my Arduino programming skills to design and build my own button-buzzer system using Arduino. So I just decided to do it.

How does your project work?

I bought some off the shelf  button/light’s and I spent time trying to figure out how the connections from the buttons to an Arduino would work. I ended up using an old router port as a connection hub and used ethernet cable for the individual button connections.  It’s simple to disconnect or connect the buttons to my Arduino. [Editor’s Note: Whoa – that’s resourceful!  Now I know what to do with my old linksys routers in that box in the back of my closet!]

As for the program, it indicates who pressed the button first by lighting up the correct button and sounding a buzzer – it also disables the other buzzers for 5 seconds.

Then it automatically reset the system ready to press the buzzers again.

What was your biggest struggle as you worked through this project?

Wiring the connections.  Like I mentioned, I reused an old router port that had a PCB [Printed Circuit Board] on it – I didn’t realize how the connections were made, and I messed around for while until I finally pulled out my multimeter and realized that several of the pins were actually shorted together.

For a while I had been trying to figure out if it was the software that wasn’t working right, but once I realized this about the connections, it made a lot more sense why I was having troubles.

Did the project end up as you expected?

Yes! It really ended up being what I was after.

Looking back on this project, what can you say you have learned about programming and/or electronics through the creation process?

I really thankful I learned this program, those ideas on my mind before is now possible in me to do. I’m doing some of my projects now and I know I can do it.

What components did you use for your project?

Buttons, Resistors, an Enclosure, a relay shield, LED’s, old router, ethernet cable

How do you power your project?

Batteries and Wall Power

What type of Arduino board, Arduino clone, or Arduino compatible board does your project use?

Arduino UNO

Was the training at Programming Electronics Academy able to help you build your skill?

Yes it was!  I purchased the training less than a year ago.

About Eleu:

Eleu has been into electronics for over 15 years and just started program recently.

He resides in Canada and has been a member of our training since 2018.