Pew Pew - Children's Learning Aid Game

Pew Pew was originally inspired by my previous experience tutoring English to young kids in China when the two kids were not that interested in learning. Most of the time they would not answer my questions and sometimes they answered with just ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Their mom wanted them to practice speaking in full sentences but they were absorbed in having a pretend battle with their toy tanks on the floor. This made me think of a game that would capture their attention and encourage them to speak more but in a fun way that would make them actually want to participate.

I worked with my partner using two Arduinos, motors, an ultrasonic sensor, a button, joystick, LED's, cardboard laser cut wood and 3D printed parts to build a plane with a controller, a conveyor belt and whiteboard blocks to write questions on. When the kid presses the button to shoot and if the ultrasonic sensor see's if the block is in front of it. If it is it makes a 'boom' sound and if it isn't it plays a 'pew' sound. The LED's also light up when the button is pressed.