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[on:]

Hi All,
hope this find you all well. I've read topics about making gumball machine that works on a secret knock and I liked the idea , but I want the machine to work on an answer for a question >> It's for kids to help them learn, There must be a display that shows a question and if the answer is correct then the kid will get a gumball ...
I wish I can do this one , but It's hard for me to build this one , I wish I can get help since i'm new to arduino :
If you can to give me links how to build the physical machine since I don't know how !
The links I saw were how to make the secret knock not how to build the physical machine ..
Also , help please to make the functionality I need ..
Regards

[Reply #1 on:]

Hi,

I completely understand your urge to want to jump into your project immediately, but I'd recommend working through a number of the available tutorials for creating projects with the Arduino so you get as many relevant concepts understood first.  Any project will involve some form of troubleshooting when things don't go quite to plan, and you'll need that understanding to have any chance of sorting through whatever issues you come across.  

Some good tutorials are available on Youtube, like

, or
.  

There are also heaps of useful resources on this site of course.

For your extension on the gumball project, what type of screen did you have in mind?  And how did you propose the answers were given by the children?

Cheers !
Geoff

[Reply #2 on:]

Thanks very much .. I appreciate your reply ..
Actually I thought I know the basics of arduino , since I used PIC before ( I know they're different but maybe the same concept)..
However, these videos seem very helpful , I'll watch them all ,, and may be it's the best way to learn
about the gumball machine, I thought that the question will be multiple choice, so that the answer will be easy , just entering a number ..

[Reply #3 on:]

I had a similar idea. Unfortunately building the actual machine would likely be the hardest part. However I recently found in target a little electronic candy dispensing toy.

Something like this:
http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/for-the-home/departments/kitchen-dining/food-food-prep/food-gifts-candy/candy-magic-candy-dispenser/prod.jump?ppId=1dbbad9&sisearchengine=182&siproduct=GooglePLA&cm_mmc=ShoppingFeed-_-GooglePLA-_-For%20The%20Home-_-1dbbad9&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=35-16030842-2

Howver like strykeroz said, this isn't something that you're going to be able to throw together immediately. I suggest breaking the project down into pieces and figuring out each on individually, then work on putting them together.

If you use a premade candy dispenser, I would expect it to be easier, but don't expect it to be simple work to get it working with the arduino.

[Reply #4 on:]

about the gumball machine, I thought that the question will be multiple choice, so that the answer will be easy , just entering a number ..

Hi

Multiple guess would make it simplest for certain, meaning just the 4 buttons (say) for the responses and you could most likely fit the questions onto a 20x4 character LCD keeping the resource overhead of the display low too.

The other challenge will be the limitation of the available space on the microcontroller for holding the questions.  If they're going to be text-based you've got the option of storing the data in a text array held in flash (check out the PROGMEM variable modifier.  By far the best scenario would be for the questions to be generated (eg mathematical problems the Arduino constructs itself, along with the 3 trap answers) as that way the questions will remain more random and won't be limited to a pre-defined set.

Good luck with your project !
Geoff

[Reply #5 on:]

I found the SD card breakout to be pretty simple and that would allow future modification without reprogramming and the exportation of stats.

[Reply #6 on:]

I found the SD card breakout to be pretty simple and that would allow future modification without reprogramming and the exportation of stats.

Sounds like a plan

[Reply #7 on:]

However I recently found in target a little electronic candy dispensing toy.


Howver like strykeroz said, this isn't something that you're going to be able to throw together immediately. I suggest breaking the project down into pieces and figuring out each on individually, then work on putting them together.

If you use a premade candy dispenser, I would expect it to be easier, but don't expect it to be simple work to get it working with the arduino.

Do you know a resource that helps in building such a machine ?
I don't care to build a perfect one, I want to start with a small , simple one .. I can develop it later ..

Also, what do you mean by breaking the project into pieces ? I thought that it's a cascaded project, I can't build the machine alone without taking into account that it must work on arduino !!

[Reply #8 on:]

...I recently found in target JCP a little electronic candy dispensing toy.

Thanks for the link. I just ordered one myself. I think I'll make one of these too!

Also, what do you mean by breaking the project into pieces ?

Typically, when working on larger projects like these, one will divide the project into many smaller sub-projects.  For example

• how to mechanically control the candy dispenser (possibly solved by stoopkid's link)
• how to electrically control the mechanical control (how to hack into the gumball machine)
• write a function to dispense the candy
• write a function to display the questions, to get the answer, and to decide if it is correct
• put them all together...
• test it out

Pat.