The Choremate

What you'll need:

6 alligator clips (three white, one red, one yellow, one green)

2 command strips

1 small clip

Scissors

Wire cutters

Wire

one green light, one red light, one yellow light

one arduino circuit board

tape

shoe box lid

blank printer paper

any coloring supplies (colored pencils)

a pouch for the battery

Take a blank piece of paper and tape it over the shoe box lid. this is where you will be coloring on.

Flip the shoebox lid over and draw where you will want the battery to go in the pouch. Next, draw a circle about three inches from the bottom of the shoebox (holding the shoe box vertically) and this is where your circuit board will be.

Use the command strip to velcro the battery patch on one side and then put a strip of velcro on the shoebox in the outlined battery pouch spot that you've drawn. Connect the velcro.

Draw three small circles on the front of the shoebox. These circles are where you will put the lights. I would recommend spreading them out by two inches. The other two slightly larger circles near the bottom right of the shoebox are where you will put the buttons.

This next step is entirely up to you! Design the board how you would like. I put pokemon stickers on it to target younger children who will be using the Choremate to do their chores. I also wrote "chore starter", "chore pro", and "chore master" next to the lights to represent different levels of chore completion. Once you have finished your design, poke holes through the small circles you made, including the holes for the buttons.

Just be sure to label your buttons like I did in the bottom left corner of the pictures.

Use a small piece of command strip velcro to attach a clip to the shoebox. This is where parents will attach a list of chores that need to be completed.

Now, this was the most tedious part of the project creation. I would reference this code and make it exactly like the picture indicates using makecode by Microsoft.

This is where you will take the alligator clips and attach them to their proper connections on the circuit board.

Red light first - Push the bulb of the light through the hole closest to the circuit board. Take the red alligator clip and connect it to the positive side (longer leg) of the light then connect the other end of the alligator clip to the A7 pin on the circuit board. Next, take a white alligator clip and connect one end to the negative leg of the light and connect the other end to a GND pin on the circuit board.

Yellow light second - Push the bulb of the light through the hole between the two holes. Take the yellow alligator clip and connect it to the positive side (longer leg) of the light then connect the other end of the alligator clip to the A6 pin on the circuit board. Next, take a white alligator clip and connect one end to the negative leg of the light and connect the other end to a GND pin on the circuit board.

Green light third - Push the bulb of the light through the hole furthest from the circuit board. Take the green alligator clip and connect it to the positive side (longer leg) of the light then connect the other end of the alligator clip to the A1 pin on the circuit board. Next, take a white alligator clip and connect one end to the negative leg of the light and connect the other end to a GND pin on the circuit board.

Set up The Choremate and watch the magic happen. Unfortunately, due to the buttons' wiring complications, I had to use an external button for the children to push and a button on the circuit board for the parents to push. I honestly liked the external button better. I also created little basic instruction cards to go with it, so when the parent gets the product, they can read how to use The Choremate.