designing a complex circuit

[scriptkiddy]

My name is James Wilson and I am a student at Hawarden High school. I
am currently studying systems and control and am writing to you in
request of aid. My task is to design and make a contestant station for
a board game. I have carried out a questionnaire, which has suggested
that board games and quizzes would benefit from this product.
I would like the product to support 2 to 3 separate teams each with
there own panel and a button to press to indicate to the questioner
they think they know the answer. I am unsure of many factors and this
is where I politely request assistance. I would be very grateful if
you could find the time to supply me with any information on the
following;

I. The features my contestant station should include (output).

II. Whether a questioner will require a panel, what might it include?

III. How many teams should the product support?

IV. Is styling important? Which styles are most successful? Is gender
important?

V. Should my product be battery or mains powered? Is this important?

Thanks again for any help provided!

 

[Harry Conover]

thesherminator88@hotmail.com (scriptkiddy) wrote in message news:<c26df7ac.0405180706.30671157@posting.google.com>...

My name is James Wilson and I am a student at Hawarden High school. I
am currently studying systems and control and am writing to you in
request of aid. My task is to design and make a contestant station for
a board game. I have carried out a questionnaire, which has suggested
that board games and quizzes would benefit from this product.
I would like the product to support 2 to 3 separate teams each with
there own panel and a button to press to indicate to the questioner
they think they know the answer. I am unsure of many factors and this
is where I politely request assistance. I would be very grateful if
you could find the time to supply me with any information on the
following;

You questions are a bit vague since you have not specified the
functionality of the system, but I'll give it my best shot.

I. The features my contestant station should include (output).

I would assume that there would be some positive feedback mechanism to
indicate that the team has entered something. Perhaps an audible beep,
or a light.

II. Whether a questioner will require a panel, what might it include?

From your limited discussion of the requirements, I would assume that
all that it would need would be a push button and some sort or
feedback signal.

III. How many teams should the product support?

You specifiied three. Then three separate boxes it is.

IV. Is styling important? Which styles are most successful? Is gender
important?

You're joking of course, on both of these questions.

V. Should my product be battery or mains powered? Is this important?

Who cares, so long as it runs reliably, although use of an a.c.
powered supply is probably your best bet.

Thanks again for any help provided!

 

[Joseph Hansen]

Harry Conover wrote:
"> You're joking of course, on both of these questions.

Actually, I don't think the guy was joking. I think that he was just
listing the things his teacher told him to consider.... He came here asking
because he doesn't feel creative enough to answer the questions for himself,
but he wants a really impressive project so he'll get an A.

James, the questioner should have at least two buttons and a light. The
first button is the reset button which clears all inputs and makes the
system ready to accept contestant input for the next question. The second
button should be for those times when a contestant gives the wrong answer.
Pressing it should make the indicator move to the team who was next in line,
unless there is no-one else who pushed their button, in which case it should
reset the system too. The light should be lit whenever the system is in
the reset state. It should go out as soon as the first contestant pushes
his/her button. Each contestant panel needs a single button and a light to
indicate when they should give their answer.

Since your teacher asked whether styling is important, it must be! He/she
obviously wants you to pretty up the thing. And he wants you to consider
whether that styling should be male oriented, (race cars and space ships in
blue), female oriented, (flowers and ribbons in pink), or neutral, (earth
tones, abstract). The answer to this would be determined by the identity of
the contestants. If all male, then male oriented, etc... A gender oriented
style would be less successful for a mixed group of contestants, and not
successful at all for a wrong gender group of contestants. So if you don't
know the gender of the contestants, go with neutral... If its for a science
quiz game, it should be science fiction-y. If for a 4h question game, it
should look like something you would find on a farm. Tailor it to the kind
of question that will be asked and the gender group of the contestants.