I’m working on this project idea, and I’m hoping to possibly bring it to fruition next summer.

In the midwest there’s a tailgating pastime called cornhole. It’s a game where you throw beanbags (cornbags) at a board with a hole in it. Well I’m an electronics geek, so I’m working out how I would build this. So here’s the outline:

The control will be performed using a small single-board computer, the target platform is the Raspberry Pi Model B. This board has the key features of GPIO pins and a network interface. The latter is important because the control of the board is to be via a web application accessible on my smartphone.

The GPIO pins will then interface to a series of CMOS chips that hold the information to be displayed on the board. These chips will drive transistors to generate enough power to drive the board, which will be a series of seven-segment LED displays, which I will construct myself out of discrete LEDs. There are some very large 7-segments out there, but they are very expensive. LEDs cost less than 10 cents each, so a very large digit can be made for just a few dollars.

The timeline for this project anticipates completion some time late next spring or early summer. Since the Raspberry Pi isn’t available yet, I’m mostly in planning stage right now. I have a circuit diagram drawn up, which I will post soon and see if anybody can tell me if I’ve made a grave error in my calculations. Check back for updates, and there’s a link at the top that only shows posts relevant to this project.

-T.J.