Bomb Prop Use
- Details
- Published on Monday, 09 January 2012 23:35
Bootup
The prop is powered on and off via an electronic key switch. This cuts the main power to the prop and the buzzer. The key switch prevents players from tampering or accidentally turning the prop off once it is on the field. Once powered on, the LCD displays the current timer setting (default is 0 hours, 10 minutes, 0 seconds) for two seconds.
The LCD then displays the Arm Code prompt.
Pressing ‘#’ here will take the user to the Configuration page, where they can change the Admin Code, Arm Code, Disarm Code, and countdown timer. The Configuration page cannot be entered if any button other than ‘#’ has been pressed since the prop has been powered on. This prevents a player from attempting to change the codes or timer once the prop is on the field.
Arming the prop
The LCD displays the text “Code: ” followed by “Enter Arm Code”. As you type the arm code into the keypad, the digits will appear next to the “Code: ” text on the first line.
Pressing an incorrect digit resets the code and ‘0’ is displayed next to “Code: ”. You must start typing the code from the beginning at this point. Once the correct code is entered (a maximum of 9 digits), the countdown timer is started and the LCD will prompt the user for the disarm code.
While armed, the prop will “chirp” every minute until only 30 seconds remains on the countdown, at that point it will chirp every second. At 10 seconds remaining the prop will chirp twice per second until the countdown runs out.
Disarming the prop
The LCD now displays the countdown timer on line two, and the text “Code: “ on line one. There is no interrupt required to enter the disarm code. The user can start typing the code and take as long as they want (assuming time does not run out) to enter it. This code entry works the same as the Arm Code, as you type the arm code into the keypad, the digits will appear next to the “Code: ” text on the first line.
Pressing an incorrect digit resets the code and ‘0’ is displayed next to “Code: ”, the code must be reentered from the beginning at this point. Once the correct code is entered, the prop changes to the “disarmed” state. The countdown will be cleared from the LCD and replaced with a “Bomb Disarmed” message.
If the code is not entered in time, the prop will move to the “Detonated” state.
Detonation
When the countdown runs out, the buzzer/siren pin is activated for 5 seconds, and then a “Bomb Detonated” message is displayed on the LCD.
Configuration Menu
Pressing ‘#’ when prompted for the Arm Code will take the user to the Configuration page, where they can change the Admin Code, Arm Code, Disarm Code, and countdown timer. The Configuration page cannot be entered if any button other than ‘#’ has been pressed since the prop has been powered on. Once the user presses “#”, the LCD displays the text “Menu”, and then the user is prompted for the Admin Code. Admin code entry works the same as the Arm and Disarm code entry. Pressing “#” at this point will exit the code entry page. Once the correct code is entered, the user is presented with a menu.
The menu is set up as follows:
- Pressing 1 on the keypad will allow the user to edit the admin code.
- The user is then prompted to enter the new admin code. The new code must be the same length as the old code. When the full code is entered, the code will be displayed and the user is required to press ‘*’ to confirm they see the new code, and to return to the menu.
- Pressing 2 on the keypad will allow the user to edit the countdown time.
- The time is entered one digit at a time, starting with the hours, then minutes, then seconds. So to enter 10 minutes, you would press ‘0’ ’0’, ‘1’ ’0’, ‘0’ ’0’ . Once the last digit is entered, the user is required to press ‘*’ to confirm they see the new time, and return to the menu.
- Pressing 3 on the keypad will allow the user to edit the Arm Code.
- The user is then prompted to enter the new arm code. The new code must be the same length as the old code. When the full code is entered, the code will be displayed and the user is required to press ‘*’ to confirm they see the new code, and to return to the menu.
- Pressing 4 on the keypad will allow the user to edit the Disarm Code.
- The user is then prompted to enter the new disarm code. The new code must be the same length as the old code. When the full code is entered, the code will be displayed and the user is required to press ‘*’ to confirm they see the new code, and to return to the menu.
- Pressing ‘#’ will exit the menu and return to the Arm Code entry prompt.
When the user exits the menu, the changes are stored in the processor’s EEPROM memory. This allows the changes to survive a full power down of the prop.