Wheel of Fame: Modern Halloween Roulette Wheel

The American holiday—filled with outrageously large 8-legged spiders hanging from roof shingles, bright orange LED lights cascading over horror pumpkins, and the air drenched in screams—we call Halloween has been a stable celebration for thousands of years.

However, following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, fears of social distancing and spreading diseases cause many to stay indoors during the holidays. Halloween, in particular, saw a dramatic decline in Trick or Treaters, with some veterans claiming “less than 5 children” knocked on their door. This is a pervasive problem in today’s society because skipping out on important social events leads to a decline in social skills, increased isolation, and a potentially unmemorable childhood.

Project T.E.G.L. (Tyler, Enzo, Gavin, Logan) have unanimously agreed to recreate French Inventor Blaise Pascal's most celebrated creation: The Roulette Wheel. Eye-catching, fun, and safe, this machine will attract children out of their homes; encourage children to find this Halloween tradition more fascinating; boost social interaction, strengthen independence; and foster memorable experiences.

Here's what you need to build the Wheel of Fame:

3D PRINTED PARTS

1. 3D Printer (or access to a 3D Printer)
2. PLA Filament

ELECTRONICS

1. 1x Arduino UNO
2. 1x MG90S Micro Servo Motor
3. 1x Drone Motor
4. 1x Custom Made Power Module
5. 1x ESC
6. 1x Breadboard
7. 1x LED Strips
8. 1x Barrel Jack
9. 1x 5V Stepper Motor 28BYJ-48

HARDWARE

1. 1x 1/2" Hex Shaft
2. 1x 1/2" Shaft Bearing
3. 1x 1/2" am-1526 Hex HD Collar Clamp

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Hot glue
2. Soldering Iron

First, my favorite part: 3D printing! Preferably use a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon 3D Printer for smaller parts and a Bambu Lab H2D for larger ones.

Caution: This build requires mountains of filament, but end result is worth it.

MOTOR HOLDER SHAFT

1. 1x MHS_MainShaft
2. 1x MHS_LongRod
3. 1x MHS_Spacer
4. 1x MHS_Gear

HONEYCOMB BASE

1. 1x HCB_BottomOut
2. 1x HCB_CenterShaftHolder

IRIS

1. 6x Iris_Lens
2. 1x Iris_Turner1
3. 1x Iris_Turner2
4. 1x Iris_Turner3
5. 1x Iris_Turner4
6. 1x Iris_InnerGuide
7. 1x Iris_OuterGuide

BALL SPACERS

1. 1x BallSpacer1
2. 1x BallSpacer2
3. 1x BallSpacer3
4. 1x BallSpacer4

MAIN SPINNER (RED PART)

1. 1x MS_TopShaft
2. 1x MS_MainSpinny
3. 1x MS_30Tooth
4. 1x MS_MainGear

CASING (GREEN SHELL)

1. 1x GS_IrisPlatform1
2. 1x GS_IrisPlatform2
3. 1x GS_IrisPlatform3
4. 1x GS_IrisPlatform4
5. 1x GS_Shell1
6. 1x GS_Shell2
7. 1x GS_Shell3
8. 1x GS_Shell4

MAIN BODY

1. 6x MB_Wall
2. 6x MB_Lid

Use supports at your discretion. Infill is also up to you.

Our arcade machine runs on an Arduino Uno 3, which we chose because the design is easy to reprogram in C++ and uses the least power for a board, unlike a Raspberry Pi.

We then wrote a pinout for each component we needed for our design to maximize space.

We utilized 4 HW-201 distance sensors to detect the ball’s location and four tactile switches to guess which quadrant the ball would come out of.

We then had two servos on our device: a 25kg servo to move our motor out of the way and an MG90S micro servo to move the IRIS module.

The motor we used to spin the roulette wheel is a 985kv drone motor attached to a generic ESC, which we programmed with an Arduino to mimic a PWM signal.

The electronics were all mounted to the base and powered by a 12V barrel jack.

Reference the "everything" fusion file for specific locations of each part: Link.

3D print the 2 honeycomb parts then use hot glue to attach them together. Place the MG90S Micro Servo Motor in the appropriate part. All the electronics live on this bed.

Print out the 4 parts. Attach them together by referencing the Fusion. Now, screw in the Drone Motor into the appropriate socket.

Attach the servo arm to the motor holder shaft using a strong metal wire (i.e. paperclip) by threading it through a rectangular hole in the middle of the MHS_MainShaft.

Print all 8 parts and assemble them together (reference the attached images). The Honeycomb Base should fit underneath this casing.

Attach the 5V Stepper Motor 28BYJ-48 in the appropriate spot near the middle of the casing.

Print out the 12 parts and attach them together using hot glue. Place this on top of the Casing.

Print out the 4 parts. Use hot glue to attach the MS_TopShaft, MS_MainSpinny, and MS_MainGear together.

Attach the MS_30Tooth gear to the 5V Stepper Motor 28BYJ-48 attached to the casing.

Print the 4 parts. Place these parts inside the green Casing.

Make sure they point the balls toward the 4 rectangular holes on the sides. Use the fusion file to reference.

One of the most trickiest parts. Print out the 6 iris lens and 6 other parts.

Attach the 4 iris turners (blue in the Fusion) together, then place the 6 iris lenses on top of them, making sure that each downward facing stub is placed in its own quadrant.

Test out the iris by itself now to see if it functions properly.

After all that, you should have a completed Wheel of Fame!

Open RouletteWheelCode.ino file attached below.

Save RouletteWheelCode.ino file on your computer.

Upload it to the Arduino Uno and you're good to go!

I hope you enjoyed this journey!

Special Thanks to our Team T.E.G.L. from Diamond Bar High School! Go Brahmas!