A few months ago, I conducted a Kannada quiz for the Sacramento Kannada Sangha. Since people were fond of buzzer rounds, they requested me to have one. I hate buzzer rounds because it is very hard to arbitrate who hit the buzzer first. To solve this problem, I rigged up a micro-controller based Quiz Buzzer which talks directly to a computer via RS232 and clearly displays which team hit the buzzer first! Since we had a huge screen and a projector set up at the location, the entire audience could see the team number as soon as someone hit the buzzer.
I got some overwhelmingly good response for the buzzer and I decided to make it available for download.
KapaLa Moksha — Quiz Buzzer v0.1
Features
- Supports up to 8 teams
- Communicates with a computer via RS232
- Windows software which displays team number on screen is included
- Additional LCD display which shows team number and other debug data
Hardware requirements
- PSoC CY3210 PSoCEVAL Kit. I had this kit from a course I had taken in grad school. The PSoC is a very versatile platform and facilitates rapid implementation on hardware, which is exactly what you are looking for when you are trying to rig a project in 3hours.
- A computer with a RS232 port
- Lots of wires and n* push button switches
*n = number of teams < 8
Thats it!
Downloads and implementation instructions
- Get the kit and connect n switches between Port A ( or whichever posrt you choose to make the input) and ground. Should look something like this
- Download and burn HEX code availabe in the C source code package under the folder quizBuzzer\output\quizBuzzer.hex onto the PSoC chip. Or you can open quizBuzzer.soc in PSoC Designer(comes with the kit, or you can download it from www.cypress.com )
- Connect to a computer with an active RS232 port (NOTE: otherwise, the program will crash) and run this program
- Hit reset and press one of the team buttons. You will hear a buzzer sound form the computer and the team number will be displayed! Screenshot below
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The thing is really nifty and can make audience very happy!
The Name: KapaLa Moksha in kannada stands for “One tight slap”.