My idea is to create a reverse Whack-A-Mole. Video demo is here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lS0mmjvCWPZFB0ZjBBbHJqb0E/view?usp=sharing
The “hammer” (solenoid+motor) tracks the finger’s location and hits your figure if you cover the button (photoresistor).
Challenges and failure:
1. Burned an Arduino when playing around with the solenoid. The solenoid needs a 12v power but I was pulling power from both the power box and the Arduino.
2. The appearance of the project could look more stable. I did not have time or material to build a stable post or box, which affects the performance of the project.
I like your Reverse Wack-A-Mole a lot! I think it is very iteractive and fun! I think something you can do for this project would be like slowly increase the speed the servo turns, which could make it seems “fustrated” that it didn’t hit fast enough and get more “excited/angry”. I think if it can express some emotion after/while interacting, like shake for 2 sec after several hits for tired/angry something like that would be more interesting.
Awesome project!
It’s probably the best project I came across. The concept and set up was fantastic. Truly inventive, interactive and fun. Perhaps replacing light sensors with pressure sensors could be a good idea since you don’t want human touch to depend on light. Second, as an extension to this project you can make an interactive Q&A game. The machine punches left if YES, middle if MAYBE, and right if NO.
Great project
Your idea of using light sensors as the ‘mole’ allowed a very interesting and sophisticated interaction. Having the solenoid follow and point at the target “mole” made it seem like it had a camera that can follow users’ fingers. This, to me, seems like an example of a clever interaction design, and I think re-polishing the platform (e.g. use wood or acrylic boards instead of cardboard boxes) would be another good step to take on, if you’re planning to further developing the machine.