Design Preview Report: Puzzle Ship

For my final project, I will be making a puzzle box in the form of a model ship with electronics built into it. It will follow a maritime aesthetic by incorporating imagery such as sails and anchors, and I will also include the aesthetic in the puzzles by relating them to some of the functions of a ship.

For the structure of the ship, I will be purchasing a model ship kit off of Amazon and constructing it. Below is an image of the model I will be using, which can be found on Amazon here:

This ship is large enough for me to include a good amount of electronics in it, which is ideal for making an enjoyable puzzle box. For the electronics, I have decided to use an Arduino Nano 33 IoT (below) as the brains of the puzzle box, and will be connecting multiple sensors to it for the puzzles.

The mechanics of the puzzles will be centered around the sensors placed in different locations around the ship. Once a puzzle is solved, I want to have a physical effect occur (such as a panel opening on the side of the ship) to give the players a feeling of satisfaction.

In order to construct the ship, I will first have to build the model, then disassemble it once I know how everything fits together. I will then modify individual components of the model to include the sensors. After this, I will assemble the electronics system and test it to verify that everything is working, then reassemble the ship with the sensors and Arduino integrated in it. If time permits, I will most likely paint the ship some custom colors to fit with the puzzles and my personal taste.

Below is the video of my presentation. I had to go quickly since we were running out of time, which is why it is so short.