This structure was built to replicate the popular Milton Bradley Simon game. To provide an interactive experience, the structure lit up and was controlled by an Arduino and touch-sensitive control pad to provide the real game experience.

The first step was designing the structure in Sketchup.

A cut sheet of plywood would go between each level to provide support to the huge structure. I took a snapshot of every level on a grid to mark where each can would be placed.

The darker cans were the buttons and had some space between them so that the LED lights could shine through.

I sharpied the grid onto thin sheets of plywood and precisely placed and traced each can's position using a tape measure.

I repeated this process 19 times and used the model on my laptop as a guide.

There isn't a picture that really shows how heavy this thing was. We had to reinforce most layers with wood beams internally to keep the sides up. We still didn't trust it so we gave it some support on the outside.

The hard part was over and now we got to move on to the fun stuff: bringing it to life.

Each button was lit up with 49 individual LEDs connected to the Arduino. The wires extended 10 feet in front of the structure so it could be played from a distance.

To make for easier assembly and disassembly, the wires powering the lights were cut between each layer and connectors joined them together at assembly time.

I started attaching the wires to the Arduino to power the lights as well as a small speaker. The game sounds would be played from the speaker using the pulse-width modulation technique to produce the right tone.

The Arduino inside the control box took touch input from four copper touchpads. To turn on the lights for a button, the Arduino used transistors to send power to the lights from three AA batteries. A button to start the game and a motion sensor were also connected.

The four touch-sensitive buttons were made of copper which acted as capacitive sensors. Colored duct tape covered the copper sheet to make the button colors match the game.

We found a big red illuminating button and put it next to the game buttons. A motion sensor on the controller would flash the light inside the start button to invite someone walking by to play the game.

Potato-quality photos of the controller finished. We used plexiglass for the controller surface so that the guts of the game could be seen.

Finally, we turned off the shop lights and powered up the LEDs.

The game was then played numerous times for quality assurance. We made very sure it would work at the event which was just a few days away.

The big day arrived and we started securing the foundation with a wide beam standing in the center. There is another team in the background of the first photo that had the same idea.

It was around this time passersby started to recognize what we were building.

We were careful to connect the wires between each layer. We did this by leaving one or two cans out from the front of the previous layer so that we could reach in and plug in the connector.

The game worked as planned and was a big hit. The structure was given the Best Use of Labels award.

The cans were donated to the local food pantry and the wood structure was repurposed, but the electronics are still somewhere safe in the shop.