Time-On! Smart Simon Room Controller

Time-On! is a smart Simon-style room controller that recreates the look and feel of the classic electronic toy. I was inspired to attempt to recreate this device by my love for the original as a kid. I think I was always particularly transfixed by how it combined lights, colors, shapes, and music to turn a relatively simple idea into a fun and addictive sensory experience. For me, it demonstrated what was possible using a simple electronic interface, and I still think of it often enough that it was one of the first ideas I thought of when playing with buttons on breadboards for the first time.

A little background for the uninitiated:

Simon is a follow-me game where players reproduce a pattern played on the device through light-up buttons mapped to colors and musical tones. With each turn, one new color is added to the pattern, which the user must append to their response using the provided buttons. The goal of the game is to remember the pattern as it grows and not make any mistakes, lest the pattern be broken and the game is over.

On this Simon, not only do the buttons light up and play tones like the original, additional adjustable lights on the front panel mirror the pattern, as do face animations on the included OLED display. Moreover, in the presence of Wemo outlet devices and Philips Hue light bulbs, the game adjusts lighting based on progress through the game.

In addition to this, as its name suggests, Time-On! also functions as a room controller and smart clock. Users program the clock using the on-board buttons, which can also be used to toggle temperature-based lighting on and off and control smart devices connected on the same network. Its clock mode also features temperature, humidity, and pressure readings that are presented on the OLED display.