This week, I focused on completing the assembly of our second Catan board so that we can transition into synchronization and software integration over the next few weeks. I spent most of my time in TechSpark working on the hardware components. I finished wiring and soldering the entire switch matrix, and May and I worked together to solder and restructure all of the LEDs. I also laser-cut the remaining token and button pieces we needed for the board. Rhea and I assembled the LED board and cut the dowels used for the button-press mechanisms. As a team, we merged the two boards and finalized the LED-to-button mapping. By the end of the day on Friday, we were able to get the second board fully working, which positions us well for the upcoming software work.
I also spent time redesigning the dice-plate algorithm. I reframed the problem so that the algorithm detects the result of each die roll and lights up the corresponding tile, running directly on the Raspberry Pi. A key requirement is identifying when the roll begins and ends so that the board updates only once per roll rather than continuously. To reduce noise, the algorithm focuses only on the visible dice-plate region and filters for black pips on a white face. I experimented with bounding boxes to restrict the detection area and thought about ways to improve reliability, including using a custom die with colored faces so the system requires both the pip pattern and face color to match. I also considered replacing the physical dice entirely with a spinner wheel if it yields cleaner signal detection. I plan to test these ideas next week and begin integrating the algorithm with our tile-lighting logic. Below, I also listed my subsystem verifications:
Verification:
- Switch matrix (multimeter + press tests):
Check continuity across all rows/columns with a multimeter and verify each button press registers correctly with no ghosting. - LED–button mapping:
Press each button and confirm the correct LED lights up. - Dice detection accuracy:
Run repeated rolls to confirm correct pip detection under different lighting conditions. - Roll start/end detection:
Verify the algorithm triggers tile lighting only once per roll. - ROI filtering:
Confirm bounding boxes correctly isolate the dice plate and ignore external pips.
We are currently on schedule. With the second board fully assembled, the major hardware tasks are complete, and the dice-detection work is progressing. Next week, I hope to prototype the revised dice-detection strategies, begin setting up the peer-to-peer communication system with Rhea and May, and connect the dice output to the board-lighting logic. I will also document the algorithm’s structure and gather photos and videos demonstrating my progress to support the next status update.