IDEA
For my final project, I plan to simulate a Claw Toy Grabber Machine. A window showing the claw and toys should be displayed on Processing. On Arduino, there will be a joystick to control the movement of the claw, and a button which makes the claw go down to grab. If possible, I also want to make a coin pusher where player should first toss a coin into the box to start the game.
Arduino
I plan to make a box with a joystick on it, and leave a space to hold the coins. I am thinking about using a piezo for the coin pusher to check if something heavy has fallen on it. I will make some coins and also probably add some LED lights. When you win the game, toss a coin or press the button, the LED lights should light up in various patterns.
Processing
I will add physical collision to the toys, and try to simulate the difficulty of the real Claw Machine. So it won’t be easy to grab the toys. After pressing the button on Arduino, the claw will move automatically to the drop point, and the toy might fall down any time during the process. The goal is to successfully drop the toy into the box, and you can always play the game again by tossing a coin.
The difficulty is the physical collision between the claw and the toys, and how to judge if the claw has grabbed the toy or not. I think it would be better if the toy are composed of several parts, so that the claw could grab a toy by different angles/parts.
Serial Communication
Arduino should send data on the movement of the joystick, button status and coin pusher status to Processing. Processing will send signals of the game status to control the LEDs.