Jumping-Jack Counter

by TiffanyR70 in Circuits > Sensors

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Jumping-Jack Counter

jumping jack board.png
jumping jack sketch.png

I wanted a way to count my jumping jacks and to encourage myself to keep going when I preformed jumping jacks, so I created a jumping jack counter that sounds a bell from Super Mario Brothers each time I complete a jumping jack.

Supplies

You will need:

  • One poster board
  • Aluminium foil
  • Pencil or marker
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • A Makey Makey
  • Alligator clips (come with a Makey Makey)
  • A computer with a USB port

First: Get a Poster Board and Measure Your Jumping Stance.

first foot.png
File_001 (24).png
jumping jack board.png
  1. First, stand in the middle of your poster board with your feet shoulder width apart and draw around each foot, in the "feet together" pose, this will be your starting point.
  2. Second; jump as you would to preform a jumping jack, then trace around your feet in that "feet out" pose.
  3. Third; you will now cover the second set of footprints with aluminum foil and tape it down(green footprints).
  4. Finally, you will hook an alligator clip to earth and to one square of foil, then hook another alligator clip to space and to the other square of foil. Then you will plug your Makey Makey into the laptop.

Step 2: Use Scratch to Code This Projects Counter and Bell.

jumping jack scratch.png

  1. First you will need to go to https://scratch.mit.edu/ and make an account.
  2. Then from the variables palette, click Make a Variable.
  3. Type score as the variable name. Click OK.
  4. Select the score variable to display it.
  5. Then I added a sound to the counter by recording a sample of a "coin sound" from Super Mario Brothers.
  6. The code will look very similar to the picture above.

NOW YOUR JUMPING JACK COUNTER IS READY!

Step 3: Using Your Jumping Jack Counter

jumping jack counter video

Stand in the middle on the red footprints and begin preforming jumping jacks, try to stay on the red feet when jumping "in" and on the foil when jumping "out". The bell will ring and the counter will count each Jumping Jack.

ENJOY!