Ye Olde Crate
Ye Olde Crate - YOC Ye Olde Crate is an RFID locked and unlocked treasure hunt chest.
The idea is quite simple and has been made probably a hundred times. Nevertheless I wanted to build
my own.
The game behind Ye Olde Crate is like a treaure hunt. People get clues as to where to find items,
say pieces of paper with riddles on them. Attached to these riddle-papers is an RFID tag. After
successfully retrieving all riddle papers the last clue shall direct the players to the crate. So
this first part is what we call a "Schnitzeljagd" in Germany.
When the players finally find the crate, the second part begins. The players must now scan each paper
(actually the attached RFID Tag) in the correct order on the crate to open it. For younger players
the crate features a simpler game mode in where simply all tags need to be scanned in any order.
Additionally the crate provides three different levels of gameplay:
* Beginner: 3 tags need to be scanned - either in consecuitve order or random
* Advanced: 6 tags need to be scanned - either in consecuitve order or random
* Export: 9 tags need to be scanned - either in consecuitve order or random
Each scanned tag is acknowledged by a blue light, an arrow handle moving to the word "U Found It"
and a sound. Once all required tags are scanned and the box unlocks, a green light is lit up, the
arrow handle moves to the word "Open" and a final sound is played.
To start or stop the game there is a 10th RFID tag, the so called Master Tag. Upon scanning of the
Master Tag, the game starts. Once the game is running, you can use the Master Tag to instantly open it.
This all works because inside Ye Olde Crate a couple of devices are installed:
1. Arduino Pro Mini - one might say the brain
2. RFID Reader - to scan the tags
3. Adafruit AudioFX - to play sounds
4. Lock Servo - to lock/unlock the chest
5. Status Servo - to move the arrow handle to one of three positions:
"Locked", "Open", "U found it"
6. Red LED - indicating craete is locked
7. Green LED - indicating crate is unlocked
8. Blue LED - indicating Tag Found
9. Game Mode Button - to change the game mode from consecutive order to random scan
10. Game Level Button - to change the number of required tags: 3, 6 or 9 tags
11. Sound Button - to switch between 5 different sound sets: Mario, Zelda, Indiana Jones,
Evil or Comic