Complete The Maze, Get A Gumball

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcj9Sdiohog&w=470]

This neat accelerometer controlled marble maze adds a level of fun to retrieving a gum ball. You have to first navigate the maze using a controller that has a dual axis accelerometer in it to control the angle of the platform. Though that does look like a wii accessory, there is no wiimote in there.  Only after you have completed it will the gum ball machine dispense the candy. [Dan] constructed everything himself, which might explain the lack of “pits” for the marble to fall into in the maze.

More details on the build and source code are available on his page.

[via hacked gadgets]

21 thoughts on “Complete The Maze, Get A Gumball

  1. /me puts thumb over hole for free gum. SCORE!

    I played one of these marble games on an accelerometer enabled mobile device, and it was very nostalgic, the only thing it needed was vibration when the ball hit something.

    I might have to submit it as a hack, but I basically made my own version of this game while sitting at a restaurant waiting for dinner; I tore off a piece of my straw wrapper and crumbled it into a ball, then rested it opposite the business end of a spoon and attempted to navigate. I would have beaten the game, but my friends were being dicks and blowing the ball off course.

  2. @ krov

    seriously people like you who complain about EVERYTHING on hackaday just get so freaking annoying… do you really feel the need to leave a comment bitching about how its not a hack? does everything have to be a fucking hack? I come here daily to see what new device is on the home page that someone made. And I think this qualifies!

  3. yeah, krov, screw you!

    i like this project. bonus points for not using arduino (although he does use a boebot… which is almost as bad hahah). but for real i like this project. not something you see everyday.

  4. while this project IS a hack… where are the holes in the board to make it difficult? right now it’s just drunken maze driving… and i was a wee bit disappointed in the finish when the gumball didn’t even spin around in a spiral like that base would have you believe it will do… other than that, very well executed.

  5. krov, you fail. Oh yea and a Douchebag just called you a hack. I would have said tool but oh well. More importantly this is quite cool it is well made and more original than being a troll. Ignore krov. People like this thrive on people responding to them, your criticisms mean nothing to it (krov = it). It’s a cool gumball game, but some untalented goof will say it sucks cuz he/she (it) has no talent! It will post comments to tic you off and will not read yours, it doesn’t care it’s just messing with you. It is less useful than a tool, my bad.

  6. I’d love to see it work like this: the gumball IS the ball in the maze. If you get it to the final hole, it comes out the side and you get it.

    Plus, the top would be covered with plexi, so you can’t just reach out and get, or move, the ball.

  7. Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

    I built this maze for demonstrations at events and tried to make it simple with no holes so younger kids could also win. I built the maze myself and it can be removed from the aluminum frame and replaced with another allowing you to change the layout and difficulty. Right now I only have the one layout though.

    The gumball dispenser was sort of a last-minute addition and does not work as reliably as I like. You can see from the video occasionally the marble dosen’t even roll down the spiral ramps like it’s supposed to. Regardless the candy prize sure does get the kids excited ;-)

    I considered having the gumball double as the marble but was a bit concerned about having it roll around on the dusty wood near glue and paint. If I eventually implement this design I’ll need to make sure the maze surface is sanitary and stays that way.

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