Reaction Timer

Contributors: Nate

Push It!

Mental chronometry is the study of how fast humans react to different inputs. It takes a few hundred milliseconds for the signal to get from your eyes, to your brain, out to your limbs to respond. The reaction timer is a great project to demonstrate this time delay. It also makes for a fun game between friends!

The principal of the reaction timer is simple: when the user sees the light turn on, press the button! A microcontroller is perfect for this because it can time milliseconds very accurately.

Required Materials

Here's a list of parts used in this project:

• RedBoard
• Big Dome Push Button - Red
• OpenSegment Serial Display - 20mm (Blue)
• JST 3 Wire Assembly
• Enclosure - Flanged (Red)
• 5V Wall Adapter

Wishlist to all of these parts

Suggested Reading

This tutorial assumes you know a few things about Arduino and serial communication. If you're a bit rusty consider checking out these tutorials:

• What is Arduino?
• Serial Communication
• Switch Basics
• Powering a Project
• OpenSegment Hookup Guide