Nathan – New Final Project Idea

General Idea

For my final project, I plan to do a “ghost busting” device. The device would include an Arduino layout and a laptop. When there’s a “ghost” caught, the laptop would display the type of ghost caught, its nature (malicious/neutral/friendly), and instructions on how to dispose of it. The way the player would dispose of the ghost would include a certain set of actions on the arduino.

Inspiration

For this idea, I was inspired by watching BuzzFeed unsolved 😅. The hosts Ryan and Shane use this device called a spirit box. When they turn the box on, it makes a screeching noise produced by switching channels (radio channels I think?) at a rapid pace. It’s believed that this way, the ghosts would be able to “communicate” through the white noise. Something like this:

Since I need to have some form of communication between the Arduino and processing for this project, I thought I might make an “upgraded” spirit box that consisted of a laptop as well.

Specifics

Arduino components:

  1. Sensing department
    1. Photoresistor
      1. The lower the brightness of the room, the likelier for there to be a ghost
    2. Ultrasonic distance sensor
      1. The closer the player is to a wall or corner, the likelier for there to be a ghost
    3. Piezo disk
      1. The sound changes based on the situation. No ghost is a sound, each type of ghost has a sound. (malicious has a more scary sound, friendly is more meme sound)
  2. Hands-on department
    1. Buttons and knob
      1. For the players to interact with after encountering a ghost.

Arduino-Processing Communication:

  • The photoresistor and the ultrasonic sensor will send two data values to processing, and processing will have a function that interprets the data. The chance of a ghost popping up will correlate with these data values.
  • For the piezo disk, the Arduino will have four sounds coded in. (No ghost, three other types). According to the situation, processing sends a message to Arduino to play which sound.
  • For the hands-on department, three sets of instructions will have been coded into the Arduino. According to the situation, Processing sends a message to Arduino for which set of actions is required.

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