Comp 190 Final Project Analysis We began the semester with lofty goals, the idea to design a playpen equipped with special toys for children that are visually impaired. Our initial ideas included a mobile, a play mat, and other educational oriented games. However, after discussing our ideas with Professor Goldberg and orientation and mobility specialist Diane Brauner, we realized we needed to alter our thoughts and really focus on one game. Goldberg really liked our idea of a game in which a song would play from one corner, after the child moved towards the sound and pressed the button, another corner would be selected at random to play a different song. The game would encourage the children to move around and also help them to focus on using their sense of hearing to orient themselves. Diane liked our game as well; however, she told us to scratch the playpen area. Although we had thought that the playpen would give the parents the freedom to leave their child’s side and know that their child is safe, Diane felt that making the game open might allow a child that is visually impaired to learn the orientation of the room using the game. With a solid project idea in mind, we began to brainstorm a possible circuit to accomplish our goals using our digital electronics knowledge. Radio Shack sells music players that play a song when a button is pressed and turns off when a button is pressed again. This is helpful to play the music, however, we wanted our circuit to be able to determine when and where the music plays. In order to randomize the selection of which area should play the music, we used a counter. While the circuit is powered with a 9V battery this chip is constantly counting between zero and three. When a button is pressed, signaling that the child has reached the corner, the counter sends a random value to a D flip-flop latch. This value is then sent to the address lines of a demultiplexer and 5V is output on one of four lines. That line then travels to the associated music player. In order to get the music players working properly with our circuit, we used an optoisolator and a one shot timer with each music player. (See the circuit flow chart and schematic for more information.) Currently, our first prototype circuit is working correctly. However, much work still needs to be done before a child can use this toy. The switches are too hard for children to use. The prototype only spans the area of a desktop, and the circuitry could be condensed. Realizing that more time is necessary, we applied and were selected for an Undergraduate Research Fellowship to continue the work and research this summer. Professor Goldberg is sponsoring our project and we will be working with him in his lab as well. Some of our ideas for the future of the game are to design our own music players that would use less circuitry. Also, we would like to attach each speaker and push button to a retractable cord, with the batteries and circuitry contained in a central area. This would allow parents to place the speaker in different places throughout a room. Velcro straps would allow the speakers to be connected to chair or table legs to help a child with visual impairment learn where large objects are within a room. Throughout the semester, we have been funded through Professor Goldberg and his grant. We plan on sending a written summation of our final project to publication. We are also submitting the project to RESNA, the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America. The project will be submitted in the fall and we hope to be a part of the annual conference next June. This June, we will attend the conference as spectators. In our work this semester, we have not only honed our circuit building skills, but also obtained a passion for assistive technology. The project led us to a summer internship, a future publication, and much knowledge gained in a field with which we now have a new fascination. Look for future work from us next year as we plan on continuing our design work with new ideas for senior theses and senior design projects.