jeopardy game design request

[Ken Moffett]

[email protected] wrote in

Hi All,

I hope I am not way out of line posting in this forum, but
it was the only one I found where I thought I could get
some help.

My 12-year-old son needs to build an electronics project.
He has decided he would like to build a buzzer/light/switch
like game of jeopardy; where the first person pressing a
button will be allowed to answer the question. The wiring
should not be advanced; as it is a grade-6 project.

I am not an electrical engineer by any means, so
determining the right combination/architecture of
switches/lights/buzzers/relays/? - I cannot do. Can anyone
provide some basic guidance to get us going?

He wants to design it using a piece of wood as the board.

Thanks, in advance,

Richard

Though too late for the OP, and probably way too complex from
him and his son:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=67xjm9s

This is a Jeopardy game control that I built several years
ago for one of our Biology instructors. She wanted it to do a
"fun" pre-final prep with her students. It's been used at my
college, the college she moved to, and for our annual staff
appreciation week "game show". It's based on the a design
at:

http://www.techlib.com/electronics/games.html

It has the advantage of only needing two wires to the
"contestent controls", so they can be run out on long speaker
wire to people around a lecture hall, or daisy-chained at
tables. I added a couple more features:

A light controlled by the MC to indicate when they had
finished reading the question and the contestents could then
respond.

A light and buzzer to indicate a contestant had tried to
respond before the question was completed.

It was built quickly, out of parts on hand, so there may be
many ways to simplify or improve it.

The only part that seemed a little putzy was selecting the
zener (DA2) on the contestant control. Using a regulated
power supply would probably have made the more straight
forward.

Have fun.

Ken

 

[Fred Bloggs]

[email protected] wrote in




Though too late for the OP, and probably way too complex from
him and his son:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=67xjm9s

This is a Jeopardy game control that I built several years
ago for one of our Biology instructors. She wanted it to do a
"fun" pre-final prep with her students. It's been used at my
college, the college she moved to, and for our annual staff
appreciation week "game show". It's based on the a design
at:

http://www.techlib.com/electronics/games.html

It has the advantage of only needing two wires to the
"contestent controls", so they can be run out on long speaker
wire to people around a lecture hall, or daisy-chained at
tables. I added a couple more features:

A light controlled by the MC to indicate when they had
finished reading the question and the contestents could then
respond.

A light and buzzer to indicate a contestant had tried to
respond before the question was completed.

It was built quickly, out of parts on hand, so there may be
many ways to simplify or improve it.

The only part that seemed a little putzy was selecting the
zener (DA2) on the contestant control. Using a regulated
power supply would probably have made the more straight
forward.

Have fun.

Ken

Very nice circuits...

 

[Ken Moffett]

Very nice circuits...

I quickly did the schematic yesterday, and took another look
at it today. I think I made an error in the contacts for
RLY3. I think they were supposed to be N/C, and in series
with the START switch, rather than in parallel. I'll have
check with my handdrawn schematic Monday at work. It's been
in use for about 4 years, and has never failed. Also the
START and RESET switched are in a pendent in the MC's hand.
The contestant controls are in small rectangular, plastic
boxes with the the lamp on the top, the cord out the bottom,
and the button on the side near the top, for a comfortable
handheld.

Ken

 

[Ken Moffett]

I quickly did the schematic yesterday, and took another look
at it today. I think I made an error in the contacts for
RLY3. I think they were supposed to be N/C, and in series
with the START switch, rather than in parallel. I'll have
check with my handdrawn schematic Monday at work. It's been
in use for about 4 years, and has never failed. Also the
START and RESET switched are in a pendent in the MC's hand.
The contestant controls are in small rectangular, plastic
boxes with the the lamp on the top, the cord out the bottom,
and the button on the side near the top, for a comfortable
handheld.

Ken

I had posted a schematic for my Jeopardy game control last week. I
discovered a couple of errors, and have posted a correct version on
TinyPics:

http://i18.tinypic.com/4uenm6a.jpg