From the winter of 2007 to around May of 2008, I designed a game, commonly known as the Wacky Wire or
Wacky Wizard that can be seen at carnivals and fairs. I used a Microchip PIC controller to control a
stepper motor which rotates a stiff, coiled wire. The player can control the speed (relative to difficulty)
and the direction of rotation of the wire. The object of the game is to navigate a ring around the rotating
coil, without making contact with the coil, to a goal. If the player successfully traverses the coil, the
motor halts and green lights flash. If the player makes contact with the coil at any point, the motor halts,
red lights flash, and a piezoelectric device buzzes. The Goofy Gator features speed control and direction control.
All of the code was written in BASIC. It was a fun pet
project that I had undertaken for a friend who wanted to master this common carnival game. Look out Carnies! :)
