Published November 23, 2018 © GPL3+

Smarty Pants Tap

Super FUN family trivia where you have 90 seconds to answer as many questions correctly. But you need to be quick and tap your button first!

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)6 hours715

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Amazon Alexa Amazon Echo

Amazon Alexa Echo Buttons

Software apps and online services

Amazon Alexa Alexa Skills Kit

Amazon Web Services AWS Lambda

Story

https://www.amazon.com/QPAmerica-Smarty-Pants-Tap/dp/B07KR1WJMC/

There's nothing quite like the thrill of fast-paced, high stakes trivia!

My goal with 'Smarty Pants Tap' is to bring the family together these holidays!

I could write about different challenges that I came up against, detail the skill schematics, post story boards, but I'm sure you'd like to see a real life demo first! Check it out below:

Video has been edited in the interest of time

Features

- 2-4 players

- Over 1300 questions

- Four free categories (Celebrities, Movies, History, Places)

- Four premium categories (Music, TV, Superheroes, Disney)

Technical

I created the skill in Node.js using the Jovo framework and hosted it in AWS Lambda. Having buttons in the portal simulator was really helpful to test. I also integrated In-Skill Purchasing (ISP) so users can purchase premium categories like Music, TV, Superheroes and Disney.

Personal Commentary

My favorite part of developing with Echo Buttons was the animation I could add thanks to the GadgetController interface. When the player wins, his/her button will light up and flash/blink while they gloat to their family and friends. This is super exciting, especially for kids who really enjoy animations. I detail this in the code lower down this page.

Conclusion

Firstly, thank you to Hackster for hosting this competition. Overall, this was a super fun project to work on and Echo Buttons should be in every trivia loving household!

Code

Smarty Pants Tap Winner

// GRABBED FROM: https://developer.amazon.com/docs/gadget-skills/echo-button-animations.html
// ANIMATION: BLINK
function blinkAnimationBuilderHelper(targetGadgets, index, triggerEventTimeMs) {
const animationsArray = [
{
repeat: 8,
targetLights: ['1'],
sequence: [
{
durationMs: 250,
color: COLORS[index].dark,
blend: false,
},
{
durationMs: 250,
color: COLORS[index].hex,
blend: false,
},
{
durationMs: 250,
color: COLORS[index].light,
blend: false,
},
{
durationMs: 250,
color: '000000',
blend: false,
},
],
},
];

this
.alexaSkill()
.gadgetController()
.setNoneTriggerEvent()
.setAnimations(animationsArray)
.setLight(targetGadgets, triggerEventTimeMs);
}

Smarty Pants Tap

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Schematics

Amazon Alexa - Echo Buttons Schematic

Code

Smarty Pants Tap Winner

Credits

Sanasar

Comments

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Smarty Pants Tap

Smarty Pants Tap

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Schematics

Amazon Alexa - Echo Buttons Schematic

Code

Smarty Pants Tap Winner

Credits

Sanasar

Comments

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