Atari Drinking Game ensures all of your chugging races are above board

Drinking games are just a complicated set of rules designating when you’re allowed to consume beer, and it doesn’t get much more complicated than an Atari drinking game. The rules are simple; it’s essentially “1, 2, 3, drink,” but hacking an Atari system to be a glorified timer is needlessly complex. I’ve been chugging beer for years without a timer and have managed to avoid any controversy. Too close to call? Perfect excuse to run a re-race! That said, hacking the Atari drinking game is pretty impressive, and I do like that the first thought was to convert a busted Atari into a drinking game. Someone put this MonkeyBox guy on Mythbusters: The Search.

Presenting the Cider Racer 2600. An electronic drink racer and timer for competitive beverage consumption. Please drink responsibly.

Features:
* Dual pressure sensitive coasters for competitive timing
* Two game modes: Drag Race and Quick Draw
* “Christmas Tree” lighting sequence for highly competitive start
* False start and reneg detection and handling
* Individual player handicap settings for more competitive play
* Standard micro-USB for power
* Annoyance buzzer
* Classic woodgrain finish

This is my first Arduino project. We wanted to do something special for the 20th anniversary of a Christmas party we go to, and the Cider Racer was born. Build materials:
* Arduino Mega (I probably could have used an Uno)
* Broken Atari 2600
* 7-Segment Serial Displays (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11441)
* LEDs, Wires, and Resistors
* Miscellaneous mounting parts (LED holders, black silicone, two sided tape, etc)

Coasters are made from:
* 3 layers of CNC cut materials: Acrylic bottom plate, brushed aluminum center, and acrylic spacer to make it level with top of the 2600
* Force Sensitive Resistors [1] (https://www.adafruit.com/product/166)
* Very soft springs, cut down to the minimum required
* Rubber actuators (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B…)
* a LOT of patience and tuning

Arduino code was pretty straightforward. There’s really nothing special there. I can share on github if people really want to see it, but it’s beginner code, sloppy, and not innovative in any way.

Thanks. Please “like” if you enjoy the project!

[1] If I had it to do over again, I would need to figure out a different way to do the coasters. It might be as simple as using multiple FSRs, or it might be a different mechanism altogether. Using the single FSR in the middle resulted in hours of fine tuning the screws and springs to get exactly the right sensitivity.