‘Through this project, I gained a lot of practical experience’

Mohammad Najafi is a first-year Electrical Engineering student at Hanze. During his studies, he worked on a challenging project in which he and his project group developed an interactive arcade game. What started as an idea grew into a complex system where sensors, motors, and a programmed circuit board came together.

'The assignment was to create a game. It had to include some electronics, at least two sensors, and a display. Additionally, it had to be playable with at least two players, and some programming had to be involved.

One of my teammates came up with the idea of building an arcade game in which a 'spaceship' could be controlled, and another player had to try to hit the ship with a laser. It seemed like a challenging game to create. At first, we thought of a game where you had to put your hand into something and guess how far one object was from another. Whoever was the least accurate would receive a shock. But we found that too easy. So we asked ourselves: what is the hardest idea we can come up with? That’s how we arrived at this one.

We started by brainstorming ideas. Since it was our first project, it wasn’t as structured as it would be in a professional setting. One team member started programming immediately, while I made a list of the necessary components, and another teammate worked on the design. We used two servo motors and a custom-made PCB (printed circuit board) to control everything. Additionally, we dismantled an old CNC machine to reuse some parts. This saved costs and kept us within budget.

I expected the final version to look very different. I thought the spaceship would move faster and more smoothly. However, the gimbal was harder to control, and the spaceship was slower and stiffer than we had anticipated. But in the end, this made the game more interesting and fun, even though it didn’t turn out exactly as planned.

My PCB was designed a month and a half in advance, but later we discovered that not all components were placed correctly. This meant we had to work with extra wires and modifications, making the PCB look less neat. We also accidentally burned out some components, such as segment displays and motor drivers, which forced us to buy replacements at the last minute.

Working in a group had its challenges. Communication was sometimes difficult, we couldn’t always meet up, and at one point, someone accidentally took essential components home. Fortunately, we had a teammate with a lot of practical experience, which helped us immensely. He took the lead whenever someone fell behind and helped us push through difficult moments. In the end, our collaboration was good enough to finish on time, despite the obstacles.

One important lesson I learned is the importance of communication and planning. Additionally, I gained a lot of hands-on experience in electrical engineering, such as soldering and PCB design. Before this, I had little experience with physical construction, but now I have truly learned how to assemble components and work with different elements. Through this project, I gained a lot of practical experience, and it showed me how important teamwork is.

Our final product was an arcade game where players took turns controlling the spaceship or the laser. The goal was to score as many points as possible by hitting the spaceship with the laser or earning extra points through sensors. Our presentation went well, and we received a final grade of 8.9, with our product scoring even higher at 9.6. The only criticism was about the promotion, but overall, the teachers were very satisfied.'