Labyrinth Game

A Rust-powered maze game on Raspberry Pi Pico W, controlled via buttons, joystick, or tilt sensor.

info

Author: Piciu-Dinita Diana-Alexandra
GitHub Project Link: Link to GitHub

Description

This project implements an interactive maze game that users can play using physical inputs: buttons, joystick, and an accelerometer. It runs on the Raspberry Pi Pico W and can display the game on an OLED or through a wireless connection on a PC via a web interface. The game involves navigating from a starting point to an endpoint on a grid-based maze, through levels of increasing difficulty.

Motivation

I wanted to build a project that combines embedded programming, game design and user interaction with physical hardware. This game challenges the player’s spatial navigation and also challenges me to integrate different input methods (buttons, joystick, tilt) and display technologies (OLED and web UI). It’s an interesting and educational way to explore embedded systems with Rust while practicing full-stack thinking.

Architecture

Main Components:

• Raspberry Pi Pico W: The microcontroller that reads input, handles game logic, and serves the game display via Wi-Fi.
• Input System: Consists of push buttons (for directional movement) and a tilt sensor such as an accelerometer (for motion-based control).
• Game Engine: A Rust-based module that handles maze logic, player movement, collision detection, level progression, and game state updates.
• Level Storage: Multiple levels stored as 2D matrices directly in code, representing start points, walls, goals, and empty tiles.
• Web Display Interface: A web page hosted by the Pico W using embassy-net, displaying a radar-style or grid-based view of the maze game in real-time.
• Sound System: A buzzer connected to a GPIO pin outputs a tone when the player completes a level succesfully.

Connections:

• Buttons are wired to GPIOs with 10KΩ pull-down resistors.
• Accelerometer connects via I2C
• Buzzer is connected to a PWM-capable GPIO
• Wi-Fi communication is handled entirely by the Pico W and allows a laptop to connect and view the game through a browser

System Workflow:

1. Input Capture: The player moves using buttons or by tilting the board.
2. Input Handling: The system reads these inputs, removes small signal errors, and turns them into movement commands.
3. Game Engine Logic: The game checks if the move is allowed, updates the player’s position, and sees if the goal was reached. It also decides when to change to the next level.
4. WebSocket/HTTP Update: The Pico W sends the new game state over Wi-Fi to the web page.
5. Display Rendering: The web page shows the updated position of the player and other game information.
6. Sound Trigger: When the player reaches the end of the level, the buzzer makes a sound and the next level starts.

This system is easy to expand, well organized, and fun to use. It uses modern embedded software methods, works over Wi-Fi in real time, and lets the player control the game in different ways.

Log

Week 5 - 11 May

I connected all the components and made the electronic circuit and tested it.

Week 12 - 18 May

I created the KiCad scheme and uploaded the hardware parts.

Week 19 - 25 May

Hardware

Hardware

The project uses the following hardware components:

• Raspberry Pi Pico W: Acts as the central microcontroller and provides Wi-Fi for web display. The other one is used for debugging.
• Breadboard: Used to build and test the prototype without soldering
• Tactile Push Buttons (×4): Used for controlling player movement in the game
• Accelerometer (Tilt Sensor): Allows the player to control movement by tilting the board
• Passive Buzzer: Provides sound feedback when the level is completed
• Resistors (10kΩ): Used with buttons to ensure safe and correct operation
• Dupont Wires (Male-Male, Female-Female, Female-Male): For making all necessary connections between components
• Micro USB Cable: Powers the Raspberry Pi Pico W and allows programming
• Laptop: Displays the game through a web interface hosted by the Pico W

Schematics

Bill of Materials

Bill of Materials

Device	Usage	Price
MMA8452 Digital Accelerometer Module	For measuring tilt and movement	14,99 lei
3 V or 3.3V Passive Buzzer	For sound feedback	0,99 lei
2x Raspberry Pi Pico 2W	The microcontroller for the system	39,66 lei
400p HQ Breadboard	For assembling the prototype	4,56 lei
Afisaj OLED 128x64px 1.54” Albastru	OLED display for showing game graphics and data in higher visibility	46,46 Lei

I already had an arduino kit with cables, buttons and resistors.

Software

Library	Description	Usage
embassy	Async runtime for embedded systems	Manages tasks and system operations
embassy-hal	Hardware Abstraction Layer	Interfaces with Raspberry Pi Pico W hardware
embassy-executor	Task executor	Handles asynchronous tasks and data processing
embassy-time	Timing module	Provides timing functions for operations
embassy-net	Networking library	Manages Wi-Fi communications
embassy-gpio	GPIO management	Controls GPIO pins for devices and inputs
embassy-sync	Synchronization primitives	Provides channels, mutexes, and other synchronization tools for concurrent tasks
embassy-usb	USB device management	Manages USB connections and operations
embassy-pwm	Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control	Controls PWM outputs for motor control and LEDs
embassy-pio	Programmable I/O management	Facilitates complex I/O operations programmatically

Links