Hatshepsut's Journey: Wall Tiles Mechanical Design

Concept Refinement

Wall Tiles

During the game, players are going to interact with the tiles on the wall which will be decorated with hieroglyphs/cartouches. To summarize from the storyboard, three players will have to press the same hieroglyphic tile at the same time. Two methods for detecting player interactions with the wall were explored: touch sensor and double acting air piston (based upon feedback from the client). Incorporating a double action air piston instead of springs would allow for adjustability in how hard players must push the button. Additionally, these cylinders can be interfaced with an Arduino microcontroller. However, due to time and budget constraints, we decided not to develop the double action air piston mechanism and focused instead on developing a touch sensitive wall, as it has fewer moving parts and thus less wear and tear.

Digital Rendering

Shown here is a SolidWorks assembly exploded view of the tiled wall. In the actual room, there will be plenty of other single hieroglyphs and cartouches (which contain several hieroglyphs within a rounded rectangle), randomly dispersed throughout the walls. But watch out, some will be decoys! Since cartouches contain several hieroglyphs within, players will have to remember the contents and order of the hieroglyphs. For example, {water, leg, snake} is different from {water, snake, leg}.

I selected 1/2"-20 1 inch long hex head screws to be strong enough to withstand the weight of the players on the walls. It is secured with a 1/2” -20 nut on the other side.

To address form and color, the brown wall will have a roughened beige surface, to simulate that of limestone. The graphics will be the hieroglyphs themselves as well as ancient Egyptian wall paintings. Please refer to the Wall Design page for details on the final look. The load of the players’ weight will be supported by the screws that will be attached to the wall panel. It is assumed that the end of this wall will be flush with the floor, so that the wall is not just supported by the bolts, but also by the normal force provided by the floor.

Underneath the brown wall is a conductive sheet made of metal as we will need a material that is conductive for the touch sensing operation to work. I was originally going to use a thin sheet of foil, but then figured that it would take a lot of abuse and would crumble easily, so metal of at least 1/8” thickness will be appropriate. The brown wall can be made to be thick to be sturdy enough to support the player’s weight and the conductive sheet behind it can be press-fit into place. Aluminum was chosen as it is a good conductor of electricity. We can hide it’s silvery appearance and make it look rusty/old by doing a surface treatment.

Behind the conductive sheet is a circular cutout in the blue portion of the wall panel. This is needed for the wiring connecting the conductive sheet to the Arduino. Making the circular cutout can be achieved using a hole saw.

Not visible to players will be an Arduino placed inside the wall panel housing and powered by a cord connecting to a power supply. It is important to keep the Arduino and any controlling electronics away from players, therefore containing them within the wall is ideal.

Below is a video of the principle of operation for this touch sensitive wall.