Our group works on the automated doors in the escape room as well on the puzzle for the first door.
After the mission briefing the participants will enter the anterior room. In the story this will be the room of the security even though the security will be absent for the whole game.
The participants have to solve a first puzzle to open the first door and to be able to move to the second, adjencted room which will be the computer lab room. After all players are situated in the second room, the first door should close.
There the players again have to solve various riddles and puzzle to get into the server room. The door between lab and serverroom will be implemented by us.
- Concept finding for door mechanism, puzzles and dead man switches
- Composition of a part list
- Installing of the doors
- Software development of the doors and electrical installation
- Software development of the riddle and installation of its needed components
- Software development of the MQTT communication
- Testing of the door and riddle components over MQTT
- Testing of the voltage/current course of the plasma globes
- Software implementation of the plasma globes
- 3D printing of fixations and riddle housing
- Testing of the interaction of all components
- Implementation and control over the LED stripes from the Environment Group
- Last testing and bug fixing
- Final run and presentation
- WiFi- credentials are not included in the code. Before uploading via OTA, ensure that the correct WiFi credentials are set in the code!
- Ensure that the #define macro DOOR1 or DOOR2 is set according to which door you want to use the code for
- When you change the mdns name via MQTT, this will also change the ID of the globe (gets written to EEPROM). Use the Format "GlobeX" as new name, e.g. "Globe0" for the Master Globe.
- Max. 4 globes can be used (IDs: 0,1,2,3)
- The commands for controlling the implemented stages can be found in the document linked at the end of this readme!
After the mission briefing, the participants are in the anteroom and need to get access to the labroom.
Story: The absent security man likes to listen to music on his MP3-Player while at work. This MP3 contains several songs as well as an audio morse code. Using the help of a hidden morse alphabet in the room the players will be able to solve the puzzle and obtain a code.
The obtained code has to be inserted into a keypad with an LCD display.
- MP3 Player
- 3D printed Input interface consisting of
- LCD display
- 4x4 matrix keypad
- ESP32
The parts for 3D printing the input interface can be founded here
The following flow chart only represents the basic function of the code and does not show every detail!
Door 1: This is the door between anteroom and labroom. This door should open after solving the first puzzle (Morse Code Puzzle) and close after all participants entered the labroom. After the participants were able to solve all other riddles the door should open again to let the players escape.
Door 2: This door seperates the labroom from the serverroom. After solving all puzzles in the labroom this door will open automatically and provide access to the serverroom.
- both doors should open automatically and have to be controllable by the operator via MQTT commands
- a detection mechanism should be implemented for localization of participants standing in between the door frame while closing
- the participants shouldn't be able to open the doors manually by hand (--> lock)
A concept of a sliding door with a toothbelt mechanism was developed. The door is suspended and guided through a linear sliding rail on the upper door frame. Furthermore a U-profile duct was mounted for guidance at the bottom. The door movement is achieved by a toothbelt mechanism. Both ends of the toothbelt are fixed on the door. Return shafts on both sides of the door frame are redirecting the toothbelt. Also one return shaft is connected to the stepper motor axes. Mechanical switches (endstops) on both sides detect either closed or opened position.
An obstacle detection in the closing area could be avoided through the usage of the Plasma Globes. Every participant in the Escape Room has to touch one Plasma Globe for closing the door. A person in the closing area is therefore impossible. Also, the toothbelt slides over the return shaft, as soon as the door faces a slight resistance.
Not implemented / possible improvements:
- electrical door lock: solved by leaving driving stage "on" while door is closed, so that more force is needed to push it open.
- ESP32
- stepper motor + appropriate driver
- 24V power supply
- buck converter for ESP32 power supply (24V --> 5V)
- tooth belt
- toothbelt disk
- end stop switches
- linear rail
- sliding suspension bracket
- door material (wooden plates)
- U-profile duct
In the following the velocity profile of the door is shown.
- Acceleration, velocity and distance parameters (acceleration / accelerationBrake / maxVelocity / minVelocity / minVelSteps / moveOn) must be chosen before code flashing.
- The parameters brakeSteps and brakeStepsInput are calculated by 0.5minvelocity^2/acceleration or 0.5maxVelocitty^2/accelerationBrake.
- The parameter maxSteps is set and the variable curPos is reset after calibration.
The programming flowchart is attached in the following. The flow chart only represents the basic function of the code and does not show every detail!
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When the first door opens, participants enter the labroom. There, all lights are off and the plasma globes are activated. The participants must touch all plasma balls simultaneously so that the first door can close and the game continues.
- plasma globes draw significantly more current when touched so they can be used as switch
- 4 plasma globes spread across the room at the walls (not possible to touch more than one globe simultaneously)
- Each plasma globe is a standalone unit with own "PowerMeter"
- One "master" device, the other globes are slaves
- operator sends #participants, then each globe determines if it is activated or deactivated (according to globe ID which can be set over MQTT)
- Slave globes:
- check if globe is touched
- send touched/ untouched message to master globe
- Master globes:
- check if globe is touched
- count number of touched slaves
- trigger opening of door if all participating globes are touched simultaneously
- trigger closing of door if not all participating globes are touched
- activate environment LEDs according to number of touched slaves to provide feedback to the user
- deactivates all globes as soon as door is closed and send puzzle solved message
- PowerMeter (hardware box containing ESP8266 and AC current/voltage sensor )
- 4 usb powered plasma globes
The files for the 3D printed mounting can be found here
The following flow chart only represents the basic function of the code and does not show every detail!
This flow chart represents the master instance, slaves work similar, but without logic for door interaction.
The MQTT communication that was initially developed with the operator group can be found here (not every detail was implemented):
For controlling the described escape room parts of our group, use the commands in the following document: MQTT commands