Maker Chad Kapper has constructed a code-entry lockbox for an escape room sport — and moderately than choosing the same old bodily keypad, put a touchscreen Low-cost Yellow Show on the coronary heart of the undertaking.
“Would you imagine this touchscreen escape room lockbox value lower than $30 to construct? The important thing to pulling it off is a unusual little board often called the CYD (Low-cost Yellow Show),” Kapper explains. “The CYD is notorious in maker circles. It is a low-cost [Espressif] ESP32 improvement board with a 240×320 touchscreen, Wi-Fi, a speaker output, and some extras. Dozens of producers produce barely totally different variations, and the documentation is usually incomplete or flat-out incorrect. It isn’t precisely a refined product… however it’s low cost, it really works (more often than not), and with just a little creativity you’ll be able to squeeze shocking worth out of it.”
The Low-cost Yellow Show is extra correctly often called the ESP32-2432S028R, with its easier-to-remember moniker coming from the same old yellow PCB on which it’s constructed. The rear of the board options the Espressif ESP32 module that powers the gadget, together with varied ports and a microSD card slot, whereas the entrance is dominated by a full-color 2.8″ 240×320 touchscreen show. With an built-in microcontroller and Wi-Fi connectivity, it is ready-to-run with no exterior elements required — and as it may be bought for as little as $15, or much less for those who can seek out a discount, it is a standard alternative for a variety of tasks.
In Kapper’s case, the undertaking is a lockbox designed for an escape room sport: enter the code to open the field and win your freedom. “I used the CYD as a touchscreen keypad to unlock a solenoid lock. Faucet in the best code and the field opens. Easy thought, however with a ton of room for growth,” Kapper explains, suggesting future options to a standard numerical keypad that would embrace puzzle-based locking techniques with pattern-matching and sequence-continuation duties.
“I plan to experiment with totally different puzzle varieties, beginning with form sequence challenges (like IQ check patterns),” Kapper explains. “The thought is that you just’d want to resolve three in a row to unlock the field. As a result of the puzzles are randomly generated, it is by no means the identical twice.”
Extra info is obtainable on Kapper’s web site.
