Campus School Assistive D-Pad

This project enlarges the keys for simple W,A,S,D games online, allowing more accessibility to these sometimes limited games. Meghan told us about the free time students have access to, and some of the options they can choose from. Simple flash games and other basic computer games, using WASD, was a crucial part of my childhood, and the simple fun they can bring, so I wanted to spread this joy to those with less capability for fine motor controls that keyboards require. I scaled up the buttons, each one is just under three inches wide, giving plenty of space for a fist to fit on it. I added light surrounding the pads, that light up in the direction of the pad that is pressed.

Circuit Playground Bluefruit

MPR121 Capacitive Touch Sensor, w/ stemma-qt ports

Bambu Labs A1 Mini 3D Printer

Conductive tape and thread

Alligator Clips

The first step in this process was creating miniatures and 3d models to print and test to see if the concept is working the way i anticipated. After printing the small pads, I began printing them full size, along with their stands. The issue with the stands is that they would've been too big to print as one, so I had to design them as a half, and make sure it is symmetrical, allowing for me to print two copies, spin one around, and glue it to the other end. I quickly realized that the lid i had printed did not allow for any minor fluctuations, so when I tried to connect the pads, it was too large, so i had to re-edit the lid to make wider divots for the pads to sit in, which allowed them to connect with each other and still fall within their places.

As mentioned, the prints for the base had to be printed in halves, so I used hot-glue to secure them together. For the pads, I used conductive tape over the top, making sure no wiring of one pad is making contact with another. Once the top of the pad has enough tape to cover a majority of the area, without it contacting other pads tape, i added a strand of tape to the bottom of it, with a conductive thread hanging down. The thread gets taped to the connected strand, and the hanging end of the strand gets a small bit of conductive tape to give the alligator clips something easier to clip on to. On the base of the box, i added a strand of neopixel led strips, that surround the box, and respond to pad presses.

The code for this project uses the python usb_hid controls to allow for external inputs to translate to keyboard presses, specifically the W,A,S,D keys to allow for control over simple computer games that use these controls. In addition to having a response on the computer, it also triggers the lights on the side of the box to respond in the direction of the press on the box. This also allowed me to create to simple 2D games in the Unity game creation engine, a platformer with hazards that need to be avoided, and a maze game, that challenges the player to think critically on the actions they are making. Both have win mechanics that present the player with a yellow tinted screen with win text.