For this Makey Makey project, my partner Carlos and I had to use a Makey Makey and some code on Scratch to time how long a user could stand on that balance board. Before we started to connect wires to the Makey Makey, we had to make the code on Scratch. This process actually proved to be slightly difficult since I had virtually no previous experience with Scratch, so it did take me a bit of time to create my code:

^This is the working code that we came up with. The function of this code is to time how long the user can balance on the balancing board without either side touching the ground. When the space key on the Makey Makey was triggered, the timer would start. When the up or down key was pressed, then the timer would stop. The up and down on the Makey Makey was hooked onto either sides of the balance board. On either side of the balance board as well as the edges of the balance board, there was tin foil on the ground so we could conduct electricity. When the timer stopped, it would remain on the screen until the user manually used the laptop to press the green flag button; which would automatically reset the timer to 0.

Even though our code and building of the Makey Makey was successful, there were still improvements that could’ve been made. For example, instead of having the ‘space’ key trigger the timer to start, we could’ve instead used the release of either the up or down key to activate the timer. I realized this after we finished the code that we can’t really ‘press’ the space key.

Lastly, we didn’t really get to test our code and Makey Makeys during the class period. Since there were other groups using the large balance board, Carlos and I had to construct a mini balance board out of a wooden plank and a bottle. We spent some time constructing this mini balance board, which practically left us with no time to actually test our creation. Carlos and I look forward to doing that next period (hopefully).