Published March 3, 2020 © GPL3+

Rechargeable Digital Foosball Scoreboard Using ESP8266

Imagine a digital scoreboard which is updated automatically when the ball enters the goal and play a beep sound!

IntermediateFull instructions provided16 hours1,002

Rechargeable Digital Foosball Scoreboard Using ESP8266

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Espressif ESP8266 ESP-12E

IR Break Beam Sensor

SparkFun 7-Segment Serial Display - Red

Buzzer

TP4056

Charging module

Battery Holder, 18650 x 1

18650 Battery

Jumper wires (generic)

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Multitool, Screwdriver

Soldering iron (generic)

PCB Holder, Soldering Iron

Story

Since we bought a foosball table, I have been thinking about digital score board which will be automatically updated when a goal is scored rather than manually moving those rings. While doing a research on available sensors in the market, I came across with IR Beam sensor which fits perfect for this use case. This comes with two parts - a sender and a receiver. Whenever there is something in between them, circuit is opened. This is very accurate in my opinion even if the obstacle is just a fraction of seconds. Please note - as this is IR sensor, it does not work in bright sunlight.

The rest of the setup is pretty normal as you will find in most of the IoT projects. I have used a 18650 battery with TP4046 module so that you can recharge your batter over USB. No need to bring out the battery every time you need to charge.

Adafruit IR Break Beam Sensor

1 / 4

In this project I have used 4-Pin and 2-Pin connectors to keep the circuit flexible also used a PCB board with header pins so that I can replace MCU if ever needed. All these steps are optional.

Schematics

Code

FoosballScorecard.ino

#include <Arduino.h>
#include <TM1637Display.h>

// Module connection pins (Digital Pins)
#define CLK D6
#define DIO D5

#define REDSENSORPIN D3
#define BLUESENSORPIN D7

#define PUSHBUTTON 15 //D8  GPIO 15
#define BUZZPIN D2

// variables will change:
int redSensorState = 0, redLastState=0, blueSensorState = 0, blueLastState=0;         // variable for reading the pushbutton status
int redScore=0, blueScore=0;
int resetButttonPressed = 0;

String scoreCard="0000";



TM1637Display display(CLK, DIO);
uint8_t data[] =  { 0x0f, 0x0f, 0x0f, 0x0f };


void setup() {
  // initialize RED IR BEAM
  pinMode(REDSENSORPIN, INPUT_PULLUP);     
  digitalWrite(REDSENSORPIN, HIGH); // turn on the pullup

  // initialize BLUE IR BEAM
  pinMode(BLUESENSORPIN, INPUT_PULLUP);     
  digitalWrite(BLUESENSORPIN, HIGH); // turn on the pullup

  display.setBrightness(0x0f);
  //display.showNumberDecEx(105, 0b01000000, true, 4, 0);
  updateScore();
  
  
  pinMode(PUSHBUTTON,INPUT);
  pinMode(BUZZPIN,OUTPUT);
  
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Initialized....");
  
  
}



void loop(){
  // check status of RED IR BEAM
  redSensorState = digitalRead(REDSENSORPIN);

  //Serial.println(sensorState);
  
  if (redSensorState && !redLastState) {
    Serial.println("RED Unbroken");
    
  } 
  if (!redSensorState && redLastState) {
    Serial.println("RED Broken");
    redScore = redScore+1;
    updateScore();
    
  }
  
  redLastState = redSensorState;

  //check status of BLUE IR BEAM
  blueSensorState = digitalRead(BLUESENSORPIN);

  //Serial.println(sensorState);
  
  if (blueSensorState && !blueLastState) {
    Serial.println("BLUE Unbroken");
    
  } 
  if (!blueSensorState && blueLastState) {
    Serial.println("BLUE Broken");
    blueScore = blueScore+1;
    updateScore();
    
  }
  
  blueLastState = blueSensorState;

  //check for reset button pressed
  resetButttonPressed = digitalRead(PUSHBUTTON);
  //Serial.println(resetButttonPressed);
  
  if(resetButttonPressed == HIGH){
    //reset button is pressed
    resetScore();
  }
  
}

void resetScore(){
  Serial.println("Reset button pressed...");
  redScore=0; 
  blueScore=0;
  updateScore();
  delay(2000);
}

void updateScore(){
  
  Serial.println("update score");
  digitalWrite(BUZZPIN,HIGH);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(BUZZPIN,LOW);
  scoreCard = String(redScore/10) + String(redScore%10) + String(blueScore/10) + String(blueScore%10);
  display.showNumberDecEx(scoreCard.toInt(), 0b01000000, true, 4, 0);
  
}