Morse Pad

Inspiration

Our inspiration comes from fidgeting with the buttons on a keypad and we thought, why not add visual stimuli to that?

What it does

Our design takes in user input through a 4x4 keypad. It then prints the user input value to an LCD RGB screen while simultaneously displaying that number in morse code with the use of an LED.

How we built it

We decided to approach our design process using modular implementations, which started off as trying to figure out how to connect each peripheral used in the final design to the Arduino microcontroller. First, we connected LED lights to the Arduino, and after many failed attempts at navigating the IDE, we successfully made it blink. The processes for connecting the keypad and LCD were the same, with special emphasis on the difficulty that ensued in trying to recognize user input.

Challenges we ran into

We faced many challenges in starting and completing our design. The first being using and connecting the Arduino IDE, and trying to understand what the various components of the kits were and their functions. All of us had no experience with Arduino, which effected our efficiency and creation process. It took us more time to understand what the code was controlling rather than implementing the same code.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

It was our first time using Arduino so our main achievement is that we were able to successfully implement multiple peripherals that had user input. Specifically, we were able to use a keypad to enter a number and display it on an LCD display. We were also able to convert that number into Morse Code.

What we learned

We learned to always start with the basics in any project. We learned to try different methods and that there is always a different way to do the same function if one method is not working. It's also important to test each individual input rather than building one large program at once.

What's next for Morse Pad

We want to implement a buzzer and speaker so that there is a tactile and auditory sensory experience. The buzzer will buzz with the appropriate "dots" or "dashes" and the speaker will output the appropriate length of sounds for each element.