Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | RFA: A device for showing arbitrary tokens for trading card games: The Tokenizer (Revised) |
Jackson Peterik Nathan Shin Niketh Lakshmanan |
Angquan Yu | design_document1.pdf design_document2.pdf proposal1.pdf proposal2.pdf |
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| # The Tokenizer RFA (Revised) ### Team Members: - Jackson Peterik (peterik3) - Niketh Lakshmanan (nikethl2) - Nathan Shin (nsshin2) --- ## Problem Statement In trading card games like *Magic: The Gathering* (MTG), players often need to generate a wide variety of "tokens." These tokens act as temporary stand-ins for creatures or other game elements that aren't part of a player's physical deck. The sheer variety and number of tokens can be difficult to manage during a game. Currently, players represent tokens using improvised items like spare cards, dice, or paper scraps. These methods are inconvenient, messy, and prone to causing confusion—especially when players need to track specific game states like power/toughness, abilities, or counters on each token. Furthermore, as games progress and the number of tokens increases, managing the game board becomes tedious. Our personal experience playing MTG has led us to frequently face these challenges. Not only is managing tokens cumbersome, but it also interrupts the flow of the game. This inspired us to create a hardware-based solution—a digital token display that streamlines gameplay and reduces the physical clutter on the table. --- ## The Need for the Tokenizer Tokens are integral to the gameplay in *Magic: The Gathering* and similar games. Often, they have different power levels, abilities, and counters, which can change during a game. Tracking all of this manually can lead to errors, slow gameplay, and detract from the overall experience. While a mobile app could solve part of this problem by displaying token images, it is not a perfect solution. Using an app would tie up a player's phone, and since games can last up to an hour or more, this may be impractical. Phones are often needed for other purposes, such as checking messages, using timers, or referencing rules. Constantly switching between these functions during gameplay would disrupt the flow of the game. In a game where the board state should be visiable at all times, picking up your phone for a rule check would mean opponents would be unable to see what your true board state is. A dedicated hardware solution like the Tokenizer avoids these issues by freeing up the player's phone and providing a specialized, easy-to-use interface tailored for gameplay. Moreover, hardware allows for faster, more intuitive interactions—such as adding or removing tokens or updating their statuses in real-time—without the hassle of navigating through an app during gameplay. --- ## Solution Overview Our solution is a dedicated device with a card-sized screen that dynamically displays the tokens needed during a game. The screen will show individual tokens, groups of identical tokens, or several unique tokens, depending on the game state. Players can manage tokens using simple physical buttons to add or remove copies or update their status (such as changing their power/toughness or adding counters). The device will work in conjunction with a companion mobile app, which will allow users to select token types and upload new images or data to the device. --- ## Solution Components ### 1. The Tokenizer Device The device will consist of three main subsystems: Input/Output (IO), Power Management, and the Microcontroller. Each of these plays a critical role in ensuring the Tokenizer functions smoothly during gameplay. ### 1. Input/Output (IO) The IO subsystem is responsible for user interactions and displaying information. It includes: - Buttons: Physical buttons that allow players to interact with the device, such as adding or removing tokens, updating their attributes, or scrolling through different token displays. - Switches: A power switch, as well as a switch to enable the editing of all identical tokens simultaneously. - Display Screen: A 4.2-inch E-Ink or LCD screen that shows the token images and associated statuses (such as counters or abilities). E-Ink is considered for its low power consumption, making it ideal for prolonged use during gameplay. LCD would allow for a full color image, but would increase power consumption. ### 2. Power Management This subsystem ensures the device remains powered efficiently during long gaming sessions: - Battery: A flat LiPO battery will provide sufficient power for several hours of gameplay. - Battery Management System (BMS): This component manages charging and power distribution, ensuring the battery remains healthy and efficiently charges via a USB-C connection. This may end up being two circuits, a battery protection circuit and a charging circuit. - Power Regulation: A buck-boost converter and voltage regulator will ensure stable voltage to all components, even as the battery depletes, preventing any disruptions during use. ### 3. Microcontroller The microcontroller is the "brain" of the device, handling data processing and communication between subsystems: - Microprocessor: This component manages the input from buttons, displays the correct token images on the screen, and communicates with the mobile app for data transfers. It will have built-in USB communication capabilities to enable data transfer between the device and a phone. - Memory: Extra RAM or flash memory will be used to store multiple token images and any real-time updates, such as token state changes during gameplay. - USB-C Communication: The microcontroller will also handle data transmission over the USB-C port, allowing users to upload token images and data from the app seamlessly. ### 4. Companion Mobile App The mobile app will interface with online card databases to retrieve high-quality card images and corresponding game data. Users will be able to select tokens from these databases and upload them to the device via USB-C. - UI: The UI will allow users to select images from their phone or search cards online, and add them to the local device to be sent over. - USB Serial Communication: The app will send all card data from the phone to the device over a Serial USB connection. - API Access: The app will connect with online public databases to get official art for tokens if wanted, such as Scryfall for Magic. --- ## Criteria for Success To ensure the Tokenizer is both functional and practical for gameplay, we propose the following success criteria: 1. Clear and Crisp Display of Tokens: The screen should clearly display individual tokens, groups of tokens, and updates to token attributes (e.g., power, toughness, counters). - Token's art should be differentiable from a distance of 1m. 2. Real-Time Interaction: Players should be able to add or remove tokens and update token statuses in real-time using physical buttons without needing to pause the game or access the app. - Changes to card details should be visible within 1 second of buttons being pressed. 3. Adequate Data storage: The device should be able to handle many token types, with even more unique variations per tokens, and a much larger number of identical tokens. - The device should be able to store the data for 10 token types, the attributes for 16 unique tokens per token type, and up to 255 identical copies per token. 4. Seamless Data Transfer: The mobile app should efficiently transfer token images and game data to the device via USB-C, with minimal setup time. - Transferring 10 unique cards along with their attributes should take no longer than 2 minutes. 5. Battery Life: The device should be able to last for several games on a single charge. - The device should last at least 4 hours of continous usage on a full charge. 6. User-Friendly App: The companion app should allow easy searching, selection, and transfer of token images from online databases. - Selecting a card should be able to be done by somebody who has never used the app before. 7. Tactile User Interface: Physical buttons on the device should offer intuitive control, allowing players to quickly and effortlessly modify tokens during gameplay. - Buttons should be debounced, having no accidental double presses, and should have a tactile feedback when actuated. By meeting these criteria, the Tokenizer will simplify token management in trading card games, enhance gameplay experience, and reduce the mess and confusion associated with manual token representation. |
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