AquaDucks

Jan 2023 - Apr 2023

This was my class project completed as part of a group for Cornerstone of Engineering II. The assignment for this project built off the assignment for KADJ from Cornerstone I, with the new task being to construct a larger scale carnival game that would be played by students and members of the community. Once again, I took on the lead role for construction while other members of my group focused on artistic elements, expense tracking, and brainstorming features. We settled on the idea of a player-controlled rotating maze that had to be solved before a prize was determined by a plinko board with a randomized Arduino component. All carnival projects from 3 class sections were assembled to create a carnival where students and members of the community could play different games. AquaDucks was the most played game at the carnival with over 300 plays and excellent reviews during peer play testing.

Project Walkthrough

Look through the images and descriptions below to see how this project came to life!

3D CAD Design

Unlike KADJ (my previous cornerstone project), the design for AquaDucks was significantly more complex and required use of 3D SolidWorks to create a functional model. The model was created such that spinning the steering wheel on the model would rotate the maze in real time to get a feel for the gear ration between the rotating components. I created several iterative models during brainstorming phases until the final model at the left was ready to be fabricated. Some earlier models can be seen in the photo gallery at the bottom of the page.

Conversion to 2D CAD

The most accessible rapid prototyping option available for fabrication of AquaDucks was wood laser cutting. Since this is a 2D fabrication method, I developed a rigorous process for turning the 3D Solidworks designs into 2D laser cut vector files that could be assembled into the 3D product. This involved drawing out the overall shape of a certain piece, then added box joints, grooves, and notches using lessons learned from KADJ (previous semester). Careful planning was implemented to make the most out of each sheet of material to minimize waste

RGB LEDs

Electronic Design

As one of the game features, AquaDucks featured an Arduino controlled prize-randomizer. This was implemented with an RGB LED in each of the 9 slots at the bottom of the plinko board. Every round, the LEDs would randomize so that there was 1x"Big Prize", 4x"Small Prize" and 4x"No Prize" slots. This added an additional random element like many real carnival games you would see. I planned the electronics in TinkerCAD, using shift registers to reach the number of pins needed to drive 9x RGB LEDs.

Maze Planning Part 1

One of the most challenging aspects of this project was designing the individual pieces of the maze. For the first phase of this design process, I made a 2D drawing of the maze using the 3D model created in SolidWorks. I then annotated the drawing the give every piece an item number starting with "H" or "V" to indicate if it was horizontal or vertical. I also marked every intersection of pieces with letters "O" and "U" indicating which piece would fit "Over" and which would fit "Under" to create a strong joint.

Maze Planning Part 2

In addition to the 2D drawing above, I created additional documentation showing how to read the maze layout to create individual pieces. I created this documentation and provided it to my group members so that they could work on drawing the individual maze pieces in CAD while I worked on other tasks. The drawing on the left shows example joint notations from the drawing in step 4 on the bottom left. Above that is an example of what the final drawn piece should look like, with a 3D projection on the right.

Assembly

Once all of the necessary CAD design was completed, the 2D vector files were sent to be laser cut. The image on the right shows the maze midway through assembly. From this image it is easy to see how the careful planning from previous steps resulted in pieces that fit together perfectly like a puzzle. Each piece slots into the backboard and interconnects with the pieces around it to form a maze that has sharp right angles and sturdy construction.

Final Product

With assembly completed, the result was the final product shown on the right. Paint was added to make the maze feel like a river the "ducks" were navigating. The chain drive was also added to connect the steering wheel and the maze, with a 3D printed chain tensioner. The electronics were also added along with hinged support legs that folded away for easy storage.

Project Gallery

Explore the photos below for a more complete look at this project!