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Basic HighSchool Project

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flymetom

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My son has to build a circuit that will allow a user to answer 15 multiple choice ( a, b, c, or d) questions. My knowledge of electronics dates back to High School (late 70's) but I'm willing to give it a try! Please help! (Previous entries include boards with 60 nails in them to which you touch a wire, I'm looking for something a little more sophisticated) We have one week and a $100 budget.

Thanks,

Tom (Canada eh!)
 
There are so many ways to approach your project. Here's one very basic design. If they were happy with the nails, they should like this. Selections are made by sliding a slide switch (Radio Shack #275-406) corresponding to your choice (a,b,c, or d) for each of the 15 questions. Although the diagram only shows three questions, you can expand the idea. To find out which questions were answered correctly, press the push button switch (Radio Shack #275-646). Correct answers will be noted by a lit Light Emitting Diode (LED) similar to Radio Shack #276-022 fed through a 1k (1000) ohm resistor similar to Radio Shack # 271-1321. The total cost should be in the range of $65 plus the mounting board/box/whatever, wire.

Note that the answers to questions 1, 2, and 3 are a, b, and c - but you can make any of the four switches active - in any order. Obviously, the person taking the test should not be able to see which switches are really wired-up.

Hope you get an A!
 

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The other method which I can think of is to cut Aluminium foil in strips and stick it on card paper just like PCB tracks. Connect only the strip with correct answer to the bulb. In order to make foil track invisible, cover the base card with picture or question and its option numbers.

See sample schematic below. A B C & D are option points which are only visible through hole in the upper picture layer and can come in electrical contact with the foil track.

In this way you can create as many cards as you want.
I hope I am making myself clear. :)
 

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I should add a note about the LEDs. No, they are not usually diagramed like a bulb, they only work wired in one direction, and they are sensitive to the heat of a soldering iron - they can get too hot (and die).
 
kinjalgp said:
The other method which I can think of is to cut Aluminium foil in strips and stick it on card paper just like PCB tracks. Connect only the strip with correct answer to the bulb. In order to make foil track invisible, cover the base card with picture or question and its option numbers.

See sample schematic below. A B C & D are option points which are only visible through hole in the upper picture layer and can come in electrical contact with the foil track.

In this way you can create as many cards as you want.
I hope I am making myself clear. :)

hahahah..i did this a long time ago when nintentdo was still around and i couldn't get it so i was making my own gaming system..lol..really young then
 
Well, this is just a basic idea. The game can be made quite more interesting using electronics. Like if the player fail to answer more than 3 questins, he looses. The game locks up until reset. A score board can also be attached which increments to a fixed count after each correct answer.
There are many thing that could be done.
 
High School Project

Thanks for your replies, especially to Gene for the diagram and parts list. I knew there was a simple solution, I just could not dredge that deep into the cerebral matter to come up with it! We're off to the parts store Friday to build on the weekend. Will let you know how it turns out.

Tom
 
Developing an Idea ...

Gene's little circuit set me thinking ...
If someone cheats by simply operating all four switches for a question ... could we stop that operating the light/LED ?
See circuit Version 2

Then...
The system will only be useable if every set of questions uses the same answers (if someone memorises Gene's suggested answers of A-B-C then they will always be right)... could it be programmable so different answers could be used ?
See circuit Version 3
#For the latter; each multi-choice question has two banks of switches, one bank seen and used by the competitor, the other bank preset to match the questions being used and hidden from the competitor.
The same switch in both banks must be operated in order to light the lamp.
This is a lot more wiring and twice as many switches bu it even allows multiple 'correct' answers, if the quizmaster sets switches 'a' and 'c' to ON then the competitor must also set switches 'a' and 'c' in order to get the lamp to light.
 

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While the experience level and budget dictate a somewhat basic design, we could add all sorts of variations to this project.

I never intended that the actual project would be hard wired to produce a solution that would be easily memorized. The diagram showing a, b, c would, in practice be designed to achieve a random solution (i.e., b, d, a, a, b, c, etc.). The diagram, however, should show the builder what wiring produces which effect.

As to variations, I would think the builder might receive extra credit if the basic project came with schematics which showed possible variations. This would not add to the cost or building time but would show that there are known ways to expand the project. I especially like the addition of the no-cheat wiring (can't use all switches) and the "programmable" switching. In addition, a numerical score shown by a digital read-out, a meter with the scale divided into "poor", "average", and "excellent", or perhaps a light to indicate a passing score and a buzzer to indicate a failing score would be nice additions.

Final thought. Perhaps the builder could take this year's basic design and use it for his project again next year - expanded.
 
More ideas ...

How about adding Kinjal's idea of cards with foil strips glued on...
If a pack of question cards are prepared, each with four answers and foil strips to achieve the same thing as the 'programming' switches...
Any card is taken at random and plugged into the quiz box.
The competitor then answers that question with their switches for that card position.
Repeat as required ...
The correct answer will follow the question card and so once the cards are prepared it doesn't matter which card is picked or where it goes.

This doesn't even require a quizmaster as the box and cards are smart enough without :shock:

This is getting silly now; much more automation from a bunch of switches and we're all out of a job :wink: I wonder if that's all there is in a Cray :?:
 
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