Description

This project started from my passion to create a life-size interactive experience inspired by the board game Khet and styled with Tron-like aesthetics. It involves six modules, three per team, that when activated shoot lasers across the floor. When a laser is correctly aimed at another module, it either activates that module (if on the same team) or deactivates it (if on the opposing team). The lasers are guided by the player turning the steering wheel on the module.

When all modules are activated for a team, they can use any of their modules to aim for the Finish Gate at the front of the room and win the game! There is also a screen, using my RGB LED Wall, showing a dashboard of the module status for each team.

Complete Rules of the Game

<div style="border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.12);border-radius:0.5rem;background:rgba(255,255,255,0.03);padding:1.25rem 1.5rem;margin-bottom:1.25rem;">

THE GOAL
Be the first team to activate the Finish Gate at the front of the room by guiding your modules' lasers in sequence, module to module, until the beam reaches the gate.

THE RULES
<ul style="margin-bottom:1rem;padding-left:1.25rem;list-style:disc;">
<li>Each team has three players, each standing next to their own module. Please do not stand on, sit on, or lean on the modules.</li>
<li>You control your laser by turning the wheel on top of your module. Use both hands for stable control — put the beer down!</li>
<li>The Game Status Screen at the front indicates which modules are engaged and ready to play.</li>
</ul>

EACH ROUND
<ol style="margin-bottom:1rem;padding-left:1.25rem;list-style:decimal;">
<li>The game starts with a Roll of the Die to determine which team goes first (Red or Green).</li>
<li>The starting team's first module is automatically engaged — that player takes the first turn and chooses one action.</li>
<li>Next, the opposing team's rear module engages, and their first player takes a turn.</li>
<li>Play alternates until one team activates the Finish Gate — its lasers and LEDs will flare to life, the victory tune will play, and the team wins!</li>
</ol>

PLAYER ACTIONS
If your module is currently ENGAGED, choose one of the following:
<ul style="margin-bottom:1rem;padding-left:1.25rem;list-style:disc;">
<li>Engage the next module on your team with your laser.</li>
<li>Disengage one module on the opposing team with your laser.</li>
<li>Move your team's puck to block the other team.</li>
</ul>

MODULE STATES
<ul style="padding-left:1.25rem;list-style:disc;">
<li>IDLE — No lights, no sound.</li>
<li>SEARCHING — The sensors are looking for a laser from another module.</li>
<li>COUNTDOWN — The module has detected a laser. The LEDs light up in sequence and a countdown sound plays. Hold your laser in one place until the countdown completes, then turn your laser away immediately to avoid friendly fire.</li>
<li>ENGAGED — The module is fully on, LEDs turn red, and the laser sound plays. This module is now in play and ready for your action.</li>
</ul>

</div>

Smoke And Mirrors

These robots are quadrapeds (robot doggies) based on the Dingo robot at Monash University, which in turn was based on the Stanford Pupper. The plastic frame and panels are 3d printed PETG, with the electronics based on a Raspberry Pi and Arduino Nano. The software is a heavily customized ROS (Robot Operating System) which is used by many university robotics labs.

They are affectionatly known as Ketchup and Mustard, as when they were nearing completion my wife came in and saw their red and yellow colors, and gave them those names! Also, this is also why the project is called Saucy Paws!

There is a provided PDF to explain the build of these quadrapeds in more detail. This was the slide deck used for my speaker session at the CodeMash developer conference.



Saucy Paws

This installation is a 6x4 grid of panels, using 24 servos and 240 RGB LEDs (10 per panel). The servos rotate sets of wooden horizontal and verical dowel rods attached together via rack end pinion gears, which extend and retract the panels. The RGB LEDs show animated colors via a programmed ESP32 microcontroller.

LITHOPHANE MATRIX

This installation uses a physical robotic tank which interacts with the virtual projected playfield on the floor. A Microsoft Kinect is used to determine the location of the robot for the virtual game. There is also a physical laser that sweeps across the floor using a servo motor. The game uses the Unity 3d game engine, with plugins for controlling physical servos and reading sensors. The projector is mounted on the floor, and then reflects off an angled mirror at the top to reduce the height needed for the arena. 

DARK DROID

The matrix consists of 9 64x32 RGB LED panels which is 192w x 96h or a total of 18,432 pixels. They are driven by three 5V 20A PSUs, with a Raspberry Pi microcontroller.

RGB LED Wall

This installation uses Oculus Go headsets and Exersize pedals. The game senses the rotating motion via the Go controller mounted to the side of the pedals. When the players is pedaling, the unicycle also move, making the frog progress down the track on the unicycle at a speed relative to the rotation of the real world pedals. 

Having a connection between the real world pedals where the feed and legs are actually having the feeling of pedaling while the brain sees the unicycling frog pedaling and moving foward is said to help the human brain reduce vertigo.

This installation was used at the Progressive Vendor Booth at CodeMash 2019.




VrogBoi

The site has been updated with the latest projects featuringKetchup and Mustard Saucy Paws robot doggies, and Smoke and Mirrors, an interactive team-based laser game. Smoke and Mirrors will be shown again at the Ingenuity Bal in May!

Latest Projects

After running on the old setup for a while, I've finally rebuilt gesler.net from scratch. The new site uses Next.js with Tailwind CSS for a clean, fast experience, and MariaDB on the backend for managing all the content.Stay tuned for project write-ups and updates on everything happening at The Lucky Lodge!

Welcome to the new Gesler.Net

The full network overhaul is done — new managed switches, proper VLAN segmentation, and a freshly organized rack. Everything is running smoother than ever.I'll be posting a detailed project page about the setup soon with photos of the rack build and network diagrams.

Saucy Paws Studios

Smoke And Mirrors

Saucy Paws

LITHOPHANE MATRIX

Latest Projects

Welcome to the new Gesler.Net

Network Upgrade Complete