imclab/reaction_timer

A simple tool to show how quickly it takes for a human to respond to a light turning on.

Reaction Timer

Reaction timer with a slow reaction time of 382ms

The reaction timer is a simple tool to show how quickly it takes for a human to respond to a light turning on. When the game begins a large arcade button illuminates then starts a timer. When the user responds and hits the button the 7-segment display shows the user how many milliseconds passed. This is a great experiement for teaching kids about the delay between our brain and our actions (formally called nerve conduction velocity).

A wishlist of all the SparkFun parts used in this project can be found here. A few bits of wire and a solering iron and you should be good to go!

Parts used:

• RedBoard
• Big Dome Push Button - Red
• OpenSegment Serial Display - 20mm (Blue)
• JST 3 Wire Assembly
• Enclosure - Flanged (Red)
• 5V Wall Adapter

Repository Contents

• /firmware - The firmware that runs the reaction timer

License Information

This is a open source project so please feel free to do anything you want with it; you buy me a beer if you use this and we meet someday (Beerware license).