BBC micro:bit
Steady Hands

Introduction

The steady hand game is a classic electronics project. It's very simple to do with the micro:bit using the touch inputs. It is also something that can be made with some crocodile clips and spare wire.

Making The Circuit

Here was my test circuit with my test subject deliberately touching the cables to make the buzzer go off.

Steady Hand

The first thing to make is the loop that you move around the track. I stripped the insulation from some solid core wire and wrapped it around a bottle top to make a cricle. Then I twisted the ends and added some insulating tape to make a handle.

Steady Hand

Connect the loop to the GND pin. Connect one end of the track to pin 1. The blue squiggles represent the track in this image. You need to fix the ends of the track down. I stuck mine in a solderless breadboard.

Steady Hand

You can connect a buzzer or headphones in the usual fashion - pin 0 to + and GND to -.

Program

Here's a simple program to get started,

from microbit import *
import music

while True:
    if pin1.is_touched():
        music.pitch(440,-1)
        display.show(Image.NO)
        sleep(1000)
        music.stop()
        sleep(1000)
        display.clear()
sleep(20)

Challenges

  1. Your DT skills are likely to be better than mine. Once you have things working, make a decent track.
  2. Use insulating tape and make a second touch connection at the end of the track. This represents the finish. Make the micro:bit show an image an/or play a tune when that spot is reached.
  3. Work out how to keep track of the number of times the track is touched with the loop. Show this at the end of the game.
  4. Tidy up the whole package. Add tunes and display at the start and end. Allow the game to be reset and replayed. Perhaps add some mission impossible style music to build the tension whilst the game is playing.