instructables

Arduino Quiz Buzzer

by shawneinstructables

Hey there! This is my first Instructable. The Quiz
buzzer plans kicked off when my colleague, who also
hosts a game show asked for people who could build
a Quiz Buzzer. I took upon this project and with the
help of few friends (Blaze and Errol) and Arduino i
was able to accomplish this. Currently, this buzzer
supports 2 players but can be easily extended to upto
9 Players by modifying the code and adding more
Pushbuttons. It cost me about INR 1500 ($21) and
with all the details, parts and plans i took about 3
hours to get it done.

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 1

Step 1: Gather All the Materials

You will need

* 1 X Arduino Uno

* 1 X RED LED Matrix Display with MAX 7219 Driver

* 3 X 220 Ohm Resistors

* 1 X Perf Board

* 3 X Spring Push Speaker Terminal

* 3 X Push Button

* 15 meter twisted wire

* Project Box

* 10 X M3 Mounting Screw and Nuts

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 2

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 3
Step 2: The Circuit

Solder the Resistors and Wires on the Perf Board according to the schematic. Also, solder wires to the LED Matrix
.

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FEE/Z205/JSL33TRY/FEEZ205JSL33TRY.fzz
…

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 4

Step 3: Make the Handheld Pushbutton

Here I'm going to use a 7" length of PVC Pipe with
two end caps on either side. A hole is drilled into one
of the endcaps to secure the pushbutton. Additionally
hot glue is used after soldering the wires to secure
the contacts. On the other endcap a hole is drilled to
pass the 5 meter long wire, i made a knot so that the
contacts don't come off when the wires are pulled.
The end of the wired are stripped off the insulation
and coated with lead solder.

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 5

Step 4: Upload the Code

Connect the Arduino Uno to the computer and upload the code.

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FI1/MYNO/JSIUOISH/FI1MYNOJSIUOISH.ino
…

Step 5: Prepare the Project Box

I bought an empty Battery Eliminator Box and spray painted it black. Drilled holes to attach the speaker terminals
and two vertical slits to attach the LED matrix display. The front portion has one speaker terminal terminal which
will be used to reset the buzzer and the back contains two terminals for the contestants

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 6

Step 6: Assemble the LED Matrix

Separate the LED Matrix from the driver board, now use the two vertical slits on the project box (shown in the
previous step) to pass the driver board from the inside and lock the LED matrix into place.

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 7

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 8
Step 7: Final Assembly

Attach the Arduino Uno and the Perfboard to the project box using Nuts and bolts.Solder the wires to the Speaker
terminals and secure all connections with hot glue.

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 9

Step 8: Testing

Use a 5V adapter to power the device, i modified an old cellphone charger for this project. Connect the Handheld
Pushbutton to the Quiz Buzzer and test the Reset and Player buttons. And we are done!!

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 10

Looks like such a fun project! I like the handheld pushbuttons :)

Arduino Quiz Buzzer: Page 11