Play some Pong on your keychain as you wait for the bus… or even while unlocking your front door.
Remember Alessandro Matera who unveiled his Tiny Watch earlier this year? It was a simple 3D-printed LED timepiece based on an ATmega328P and powered by a 3V CR2032 battery. Well, the Italian Maker is back with yet another nifty little wearable device.
We’ve all at one time or another fiddled with our keys while anxiously waiting for the bus, train or our latte at the coffee shop. This was the inspiration behind Matera’s latest creation: KeyChainino. It’s an Arduino-programmable keychain gaming board that doesn’t require a standard mobile device to play. (In other words, it’s a great alternative for those who rather not have to whip out their smartphones.)
The Maker decided to ditch an LCD screen for an ATtiny84 powered 6x5 LED matrix and used Charlieplexing to drive the 30 tiny lights. Not only did it give it some old-school flavor, he wanted to make it easy for folks to design their own games without having to worry about how to devise boards.
One of the first games he made for it was no other than Pong. Matera shares, “I have created my first game: a simple arkanoid-like, where a ball just bouncing on the screen and you need to move the paddle – with the two buttons – to prevents the ball from falling from the playing field.”
Intrigued? Head over to KeyChainino’s page here, or see it in action below. In the meantime, those looking to play games on an Arduino-compatible business card should check out Arduboy as well.
*ATtiny84
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