Seek | Devpost

Hider device prototype
Seeker app prototype

Inspiration

Seek is a digital hide and seek game that can be used at events to aid in improving human interaction and ice breaking.

What It Does

It is made up of two major components the hardware based Hider devices and the software based Seekers app. The Hiders are a micro controller device that has GPS and WiFi modules; that capture the current GPS coordinates and then send them over WiFi to the Seekers device. The coordinates of the Hiders are compared with the coordinates of the Seeker's device. The Seekers app then calculates direction you need to walk to find the Hider showing this as a compass direction on screen and also displays the current heading for the Seekers device. The aim is for the Seeker to find the Hiders, which can either be left in a fixed location or with a person. Once found the Seeker can scan the NFC chip on the Hider. Confirming that they have found that specific Hider giving them achievement points that are logged against their account.

How We Built It

Hider Device
Seeker App

The Hider device was made from an ESP8266 and a GPS module. The app was made using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Communication of co-ordinates between devices is done using PHP though an Apache web server.

Challenges We Faced

The GPS module had a problem connecting to satellites, this was solved by making a metal cone out of a coke can to improve the signal. Once fixed we had another issue getting the GPS module to transmit the correct co-ordinates to the Arduino. Because of this we did not manage to complete development of the PHP link between the Hiders and Seekers.

We also ran into a issue with finding the current bearing of the Seekers device this was because we could not access the magnetic sensor on the phone without developing a full mobile app. But, by this point it was to late to make the switch to a full Android mobile app.

Things We're Proud Of

The GPS coordinates comparison algorithm, direction finder, and the hider devices.

    var y = Math.sin(rlon - llon) * Math.cos(rlat);
    var x = Math.cos(llat) * Math.sin(rlat) -
      Math.sin(llat) * Math.cos(rlat) * Math.cos(rlon - llon);
    var radians = Math.atan2(y, x);
    console.log(radians);

    function radians_to_degrees(radians) {
      var pi = Math.PI;
      return radians * (180 / pi);
    }

    var direction = radians_to_degrees(radians);
    console.log(direction);
    var direction = (direction + 180) % 360;
    console.log("new number");
    console.log(direction);
    var roundDirection = Math.round(direction)
    console.log(roundDirection);

What We Learned

How to use GPS.
Using and connecting ESP8266 to the internet.
Performing maths in JavaScript.
How to share data between hardware and software devices.

What's Next For Seek

Creating a mobile app.
Adding distance to the display so, it can be used for navigation around buildings. e.g.(Convention Centre, Hospital)
Integrating iBeacon or Eddystone to develop a system that is not completely reliant on WiFi as this cannot be found in all locations.
Keeping a record of achievements.
Using batteries to power the device.