Overview

This is the Quantum version of the classic Simon Says game. It is an intermediate project in relation to hardware. The projects this PCB kit can be used for are the Simon Says Game and the Whack-a-mole game. We intended to reproduce a game that was fun to play and was highly educational to build. In this DIY Kit we explore how to use an MCP23017 port expander and to talk to multiple IO pins via a two wire bus. The full DIY Kit can be purchased here.

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Hardware Components

The components are part of the DIY Kit or can be sourced separately with help of the BOM:

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Picture	Name	Designator	Quantity

Picture	Name	Designator	Quantity
Open	Red Radial LED (5mm)	D1	1
	Yellow Radial LED (5mm)	D4	1
	Green Radial LED (5mm)	D2	1
	Blue Radial LED (5mm)	D3	1
	White Radial LED (5mm)	D5	1
	Sliding Switch	S5	1
	Tactile button (12x12mm) with color cap (Red)	S1	1
	Tactile button (12x12mm) with color cap (Green)	S2	1
	Tactile button (12x12mm) with color cap (Blue)	S3	1
	Tactile button (12x12mm) with color cap (Yellow)	S4	1
	Tactile Push Button	S6	1
Reads: “104”	100nf Capacitor	C1	1
	MCP23017 Port Expander	U1	1
	28 pin carrier		1
	10kΩ Resistor	R4, R6, R8, R9, R10	5
	1.2kΩ Resistor	R2	1
	3.3kΩ Resistor	R1	1
	3.9kΩ Resistor	R3, R5, R11	3
	820Ω Resistor	R7	1
	1x2 3.5mm Terminal Block	J1, J2, J3	3
	Simon Says PCB	Q-PCB-005	1

Tools Used

PCB Assembly and Soldering

Place groups of components on the board and then solder them to the pads.

Using some form of work holder is advised. You can find a list of suitable work holders on our Recommended Tools List.

To help you placing the big chip for the IO expansion, we put a 28-pin carrier into the kit. This one can be soldered down and the chip can simply be plugged in on top of the carrier.

We will start by putting all the parts on the table.

If you are not familiar with soldering you should start with components with the lowest profile, like for example resistors and then move up to components like buttons with higher profile.

We will start by soldering the resistors. Please refer to the following listing.

• 820Ω : R7

• 1.2kΩ : R2

• 3.3kΩ : R1

• 3.9kΩ : R3, R5, R11

• 10kΩ : R4, R6, R8, R9, R10

Next we will solder the MCP23017 Port Expander.

Next we solder the LEDs.

• D1 : red

• D2 : green

• D3 : blue

• D4 : yellow

Now the capacitor. It sits on C1.

Solder the smaller Button onto S6. The orientation doesn’t matter.

Solder the terminals facing away from the border. You can stick two together by sliding them into each other. Then place them on J1 and J2.

After this we will solder the switch. Make sure it faces away from the board.

Lastly solder the four bigger buttons onto the board and stick the color caps on them. Make sure they are the same as the LED color. The orientation of the button doesn’t matter.

Your Simon Says DIY Kit is now ready to be used!

Connecting to the Builder Base

To connect the DIY Kit to the Builder Base you will need four male to male jumper wires and your flathead screwdriver.

Please connect the Builder Base to connectors J2 and J3 of the DIY Kit. The labeling of the connectors is the same as on the Builder Base. The Builder Base can now get powered via USB and power the Kit as well, or get powered through the Kit. For that, J1 of the Kit has to be powered with 5V. A switch can interrupt the power in this configuration to save energy if for example a battery is used. When the power LED is light up the DIY Kit is ready to be used.

Projects

Simon Says

The project page can be found here Simon Game .

In this section we will explain how to make the DIY Kit compatible with the project.

First of all, we need to connect the PCB to the Builder Base. For that we simply connect the Builder Base to connectors J2 and J3 of the DIY Kit. The labeling of the connectors is the same as on the Builder Base. The Builder Base can now get powered via USB and power the Kit as well, or get powered through the Kit. For that, J1 of the Kit has to be powered with 5V. A switch can interrupt the power in this configuration to save energy if for example a battery is used.

The app is the same as the project one, however the firmware differs slighly. Please follow the instructions in this section.

Please reference the table below for the firmware button mappings. The blue entries are different than the project.

The complete table of button connections is referenced below:

The correct firmware can be found here if you don’t feel like building it yourself:

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Whack-A-Mole

The project page can be found here Whack a mole.

The whack-a-mole project uses the DIY Kit as one of its components! Head over to the project page to check it out.

Gallery

Resources

App & Firmware

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This DIY Kit page is currently optimized for revision G.

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