A STUDENT WORKS with circuitry during the Build You Own Arcade Game Navigating Rensselaer a& Beyond day trip.The Engineering department was abundant with flashing LEDs during the Build Your Own Arcade Game Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond event held by the Embedded Hardware Club. The students were divided into groups, each tasked with creating an arcade game using simple electronic parts, a microprocessor, and a breadboard. Many of the groups had very little experience with programming and circuitry. Everyone was surprised with how much they had learned in such a short time. Students who had never programmed before had entire programs built to run their game in mere hours.
Each team was using either an Arduino or Raspberry Pi microcontroller. One group was using different colored LEDs to recreate Simon, a memory game. Other students were working on a simple jumping game. One group made a one dimensional pong game. Another was working on making a Space Invaders game where the LEDs lit up to turn on in series giving the effect of an enemy moving towards the player. The player had to press a button before the enemy reached them or would lose. The Build Your Own Game NRB was excellent for anyone interested in programming, games, or circuitry, as there is no better way of learning than working hands on with something.