Abstract for group Scrabble

We have decided to implement the Super Scrabble project as our final
project.  This project is being managed by Bob Reiss, who we have not
yet been able to get into contact with regarding specific details of
the project. Nonetheless we have a pretty good idea of the general
specifications that are required from discussing them with Professor
Edwards after class on Thursday, February 17.

The basic outline of the project is an electronic timer and scorer for
an extension of the classic boardgame, Scrabble, known as "Super
Scrabble."  Thus, the unit needs to have a means of displaying the
time remaining and the scores of each player. Also, there needs to be
a way of inputting placed words and ending a player's turn.

Some members of our group have programmed using PICs in the past, and
we believe that they provide a reasonable method for accomplishing
this task. The designs that Prof. Edwards showed us in class indicate
the Mr. Reiss wants to use LEDs for displaying the info, but we
believe that this would be more reasonable to do with LCDs because of
power consumption concerns. We have looked at some preliminary costs
for these items, but will need to discuss them further with the client
in order to determine the acceptable cost levels. The actual chip to
be used (e.g. PIC16 family or PIC18 family) will depend on the number
of lines of I/O required for the peripherals included in the final
design.

We believe that there are a few things that can be done to make the
interface smoother than what has already been proposed. We think that
it would be useful to include "soft keys" in the interface in order to
make it easier to manipulate the user interface. These keys would be
similar to the buttons that appear on most modern cell phones, and
have a different function depending on the context.  For example, on
one screen you might want to allow the user to select a specific
player using the soft keys, while on another you might want to input
that a player's turn has ended. This would contribute to a smoother
user interface.

Another idea that we've had for smoothing the user interface is the
inclusion of a directional pad. This could be used as a simpler way to
input player names into the device by highlighting a specific letter
and then selecting it, in a similar manner to the way that high scores
were added to old arcade machines. We have also considered the idea of
including a turnable knob to scroll through different pieces of
information (much like a mouse wheel).

We have attached two different prototype design ideas, which we intend
to discuss with Bob Reiss once we get into contact with him. One
includes a full alphanumeric keypad (which, as far as we can tell so
far, is rather expensive on the order of $50+). The other design
implements the directional pad solution proposed above, primarily to
address this cost concern.