W E L C O M E T O T H E T E A M M A K E I T R A I N W E B S I T E
On behalf of the State of California and our candidate, we have been tasked with creating a Drought Abatement Machine (D.A.M.) in order to help inspire a solution to our drought. The idea is to design, fabricate, and assemble a game for voters to play. It will encourage and motivate them to become citizens more conscious of their water consumption and the welfare of the environment. The only way is through a game. There will be three sections to it: collection, transfer, and distribution. But first, it is important to lay out the project requirements.
P R O J E C T R E Q U I R E M E N T S
- The DAM will power up into an ARMed mode.
- The average voter should take approximately 45 seconds to interact with your DAM, and no one should be able to win in less than 30 seconds.
- Each DAM should include a creative display of the passage of time and should reset 60 seconds after the voter starts interacting.
- The DAM must require coordinated interaction between the two Voters to be victorious.
- Use 2 sensing modalities and the DAM must involve at least 3 distinct user interactions with each Voter participating in at least 2.
- Each Voter’s actions should affect the interactions with the other Voter.
- Your DAM should require large scale motion on the part of the Voters for at least one of its interactions.
- If victorious, the DAM should provide an exciting audio and/or visual experience.
- The DAM should automatically reset 30 seconds after a victory.
- The DAM should be usable without human instruction.
- The DAM must set an external line to 5V whenever a victory has occurred.
- Each DAM must respond to at least three distinct inputs/interactions.
- At least one input must be interpreted as an analog input.
- At least one input must involve non-contact sensing.
- Each DAM must provide the user with feedback about his/her actions (haptic, audio, or tactile).
- The complete DAM must be a self contained entity and connected only to the provided project power supply.
- The DAM must fit into a footprint no more than 18” wide by 18” deep by 36” high.
- The DAMs must be safe for both users and spectators.
C O L L E C T O R
Our Voter will be doing the rain dance! In this part of the game, one of two voters will be helping our little dancer in a raincoat dance her way into a thunderstorm via a Dance Dance Revolution style game. The user has 4 button inputs at each of their hands and feet. As an LED lights up to indicate which limb to control, the user will press the corresponding button and initiate a dance movement As the Voter completes successful moves, the amount collected in this portion of the game increases, which in turn, increases the amount of water available to the Distributor. If the amount of water ever runs empty, the Distributor will stop.
T R A N S F E R
Both Voters will be responsible for paying attention and playing in this portion of the game. In order to allow water flow between the Collector and Distributor, a pipeline must be maintained so that water can be transferred. There are two dials located at the center console of the Collector and the Distributor. At a predefined time(s), an event will go off that stops flow to the Distributor. An led will light up signifying where the dials should be redirected, and once fixed, flow will continue as before.
D I S T R I B U T O R
The other Voter not responsible for the Collector will be distributing water to all of California. Using a hose that emits a unique IR signal, the Voter will respond to certain regions of California asking for water and aiming the hose at that region. Once the hose has been aimed for the proper amount of time, the region will be satisfied and another random region will request water from the Distributor. If 8 regions are quenched before the 60 second mark is reached, the Voters will be victorious.
M E E T T H E T E A M
Pictured below, from left to right, are team members Jojo Ortiz, James Bui, Luke Weitkemper, and Anne Alter.