Section 1

Snowy the Owl

Snowy the Owl is the first mechatronic narrator that greets the player and introduces Section 1’s gameplay and tutorial. She is a white owl equipped with actual feathers, tilting and rotating motions for the head, and a moving beak for narration.

Section 1

Poly-fill Clouds

In addition to Snowy the Owl, Section 1 features poly-filled clouds hanging above the player that bring the raging thunderstorm on the visual display into the physical scene. Strobe lights simulate lightning, paired with audio cues of rumbling thunders.

The gray clouds are made up of poly-fill glued to paper lanterns, with LED strobe lights controlled by an Arduino inside for the lightning simulation. A Python program triggers a thunder strike audio effect when the LED lights in the clouds light up.

Section 2

Cappy the Caterpillar

The image above and the slides below are of the first Cappy prototype.

Sitting on a log on the side of Section 2, bright green Cappy the Caterpillar introduces Section 2’s Simon Says game. Cappy is a robot able to move his pincers, torso, and head for animated movements while narrating.

Created by a Georgia Tech Capstone Design team, the first prototype of Cappy is an all-motor aluminum design featuring a static base and rigid spine with two joints at his torso and neck and three motors for his head, pincers, and torso dynamic movements.

Link to Cappy presentation for more information!

Section 2

Blooming Flowers

There are 4 mechatronic flowers in Section 2 that the player pollinates and interacts with for the gameplay. The flowers resemble tiger lilies, each with a unique color palette, and will light up in random sequential order. Following Cappy’s instructions, if the player chooses correctly, the mechatronic flowers will be pollinated and open its petals as a response; otherwise, they will remain stagnant and un-bloomed.

The blooming mechanism uses fishing line and a pulley and hinge system. The core of the flower’s stem is attached to a linear actuator. As the core is raised, the petals rotate outward on hinges. When the bloom is closing, the petals rotate inward on hinges while the fishing line pulls the petals into a more curved position.

Section 3

Sandy the Snake

Sandy the Snake is a mechatronic boa constrictor and narrator for Section 3, sitting on a rock in the foreground. Equipped with DC and servo motors, Sandy moves and twists its body into an “S” shape to guide the player during the tutorial.

A D motor at its base provides panning motion of the torso. Servo motors provide torso and neck tilt, allowing for fluid body movements similar to an actual snake. There is another servo motor in her jaw for lip sync.

Section 4

Honeycomb Cells

The final section features a honeycomb cell wall with a total of 27 lit cells, including10 cells with numbers that have linear actuation. While the player is pointing to a cell, programmable LEDs around the periphery the cell will one-by-one turn from yellow to blue until all LEDs are blue and the choice is locked in. If the user’s guess is correct, the cell will extend outwards; otherwise, the LEDs will grow dim.

The cells are made of wood, each with digital LED lights and linear actuators. The digital LED lights allow for control of individual cell lighting. Sparkfun Qwiic Motor Driver has I2C connection; allows controller to communicate with multiple peripheral devices. I2C supports multiple devices on same bus (reducing need for extra pins & simplifies hardware connections). Mounted on miniature drawer pulls, the correctly selected cell will move out of the plane of the honeycomb. Arduinos, linear actuators, LED strips connection through a series of daisy-chained motor controllers.

Section 4

Circling Bees

In addition to the honeycomb cell wall, the upper right-hand corner will display a mobile of spinning bees who simulate excited buzzing bees waiting for Mr. Bee to return home. The bees’ spinning speed is dependent on the player’s answer choices: if correct, the spinning will be faster to visually indicate to the player their choices are on the right path. The bees give high-pitched taunts or encouragements to the player, via a USB speaker above the bees.

There are 2 wooden circular platforms to hold the 6 bees, with 3 bees on each. The two platforms spin at different rotational speeds, and each bee’s wings are able to flap using 2 servo motors with a wooden spin hidden in the bees to act as structural support and stability.