Welcome, MAKE readers! I’m very pleased that you dropped by and hope you enjoyed my article on the Reverse Geocache™ Puzzle Box (p. 144 of the January issue). We have a wonderful community of puzzle box owners, builders, and enthusiasts here, centered around the notion of location-based microcontroller projects, and we’d love for you to join us. (If you’re unfamiliar with the story, I recommmend you read about the very first puzzle box here then skim through some of the other articles.)
Care to add your name to our email list? We’d love to have you:
And if you have any good puzzle box stories to share, I am avidly collecting them. There are some remarkable and moving tales out there of people who have proposed marriage with rings hidden in puzzle boxes or traveled thousands of miles to reach a certain memorable destination. It makes my skin tingle to think of them!
Meanwhile, here are a few answers to some frequently asked questions:
1. Who is that kid in the magazine pictures?
That’s my nephew Nate.
Nate hunting for "the magic spot"
2. Are you selling these puzzle boxes?
Yes, I built a number of them on commission in 2010 and plan to continue streamlining my processes to make them more affordable. There are lots of new commissions and exciting puzzle box games planned for 2011. If you’d like to commission one, they make fantastic wedding or engagement or graduation gifts. As I’ve told many people, a carefully planned puzzle box quest can yield memories that last a lifetime. Read over the website and contact me at mikal <at> arduiniana.org.
3. Can you help me build one?
Sure. Building your own puzzle box is a rather complex task, but ultimately can be very rewarding. To help out people who think they might like to try, I’ve posted some instructions and a skeletal sample of some source code that might get you started. If you are building a box using supplies similar to those I mention in the article, another huge timesaving device is my custom Arduino shield PCB. I have a few extra of these and am selling them to DIY’ers. I strongly recommend using a custom shield. It saves a lot of headache and makes for a much tidier, compact design.
Reverse Geocache™ shield (populated)
Mikal
will
13 years ago
I just downloaded your code from the make site! Thank you!I have all your libraries installed but I am getting an error on this line in the beginning of the loop function:
float distance_meters = TinyGPS::distance_between(lat, lon, DEST_LATITUDE, DEST_LONGITUDE);
it is telling me that distance_between is not a member of TinyGPS
any suggestions? thank you again!!!
Mikal
13 years ago
Hi Will–
Download TinyGPS 10 and you should be good. Sorry, I forgot to update the link.
Mikal
Geebs
13 years ago
Hi Mikal,
I made a puzzle box a few months ago and gave it to my girlfriend, it worked great! Your idea is wonderful!
I ended up using a sparkfun gps shield to put everything together, but it was a lot messier than I would’ve liked.
Have you ever thought about putting your shield for sale on http://batchpcb.com/?
Mikal
13 years ago
Geebs, thanks for the comments. I am actually selling that PCB and should have a storefront up soon. (Email only so far.) I’ll check into the BatchPCB idea. I like Sparkfun and BatchPCB. Thanks!
Mikal
Scott McGrew
13 years ago
Just looking over the instructions, i may have missed it, but how do you lock the box? In other words, the box state is normally locked except when in the proper location. Assuming you are not building the box at that location, how do you close the lid?
Mikal
13 years ago
Good question, Scott.
If you’re using some variant of the sample software, the box opens automatically if you keep it plugged into the USB for two minutes beyond the end of a “turn”. It stays open for 10 seconds and then resets the counter and relocks the box. If you need to open it to put in a new treasure or something, just wait until it opens and then disconnect the USB. The box will also lock itself automatically once you push the button.
Mikal