Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | # Tabletop Fantasy Football |
Nicholas Goo Parthiv Adimulam Raahil Parikh |
Xiyue Zhu | ||
| Team Members: Parthiv A.: parthiv4 Nicholas G.: ngoo2 Raahil P.raahilp2 ## Problem Fantasy football is popular, but the apps require a ton of commitment. You need to set up a league, coordinate a draft with a bunch of people, manage your roster all season, and stay engaged for months. It's hard to just casually play with friends. Say your friend visits on a Sunday during football season. You both want to watch the games and compete head-to-head right now. But starting a fantasy league means league setup, player selection, and a whole season commitment. There's no way to just pick up and play for an afternoon. Plus, fantasy football is completely digital. You're checking scores on your phone, watching your team on an app. There's no real, shared experience with your friends. Two people sitting together can't actually feel the competition happening between them. Other solutions like LED scoreboards show data but don't let you interact with them, and board games with static scoring need manual updates and don't connect to live sports data. ## Solution Overview We're building a battery-powered tabletop fantasy football system that lets you play casual head-to-head matchups instantly, without any app setup or season commitment. Two friends can just place cards on a board and compete for an afternoon without league coordination or long-term commitment. Place NFC-enabled physical player cards on the board to represent your lineup. Start a matchup. The board pulls live NFL stats over Wi-Fi and updates scores in real time. The microcontroller processes the NFC reads to identify which players are placed and where on the board. RGB LEDs react to scoring events with color changes and pulses. Audio alerts go off for touchdowns and big plays. Brightness adjusts based on score changes. Want to play tomorrow with different players? Swap the cards and start a new game. No app, no league setup needed. ## Solution Components ### Main Control PCB Subsystem A custom PCB will tie everything together. A microcontroller with Wi-Fi will process NFC data, manage the display, handle the game logic, and talk to a backend server for live NFL stats. The software will debounce NFC reads to make sure we're getting stable player identification and not false reads. Clock crystals, programming headers, and support circuitry will all be on the board instead of using dev boards. ### NFC Subsystem NFC tags embedded in the player cards. An NFC reader integrated into the PCB detects which cards are placed on the board and where. Position zones map to roster slots like QB, RB, WR, TE, etc. The software maps detected cards to actual player IDs and checks that lineups are valid before starting a matchup. ### Live Sports Data Backend A backend service connects to an NFL or fantasy sports API to pull current player stats. The system calculates fantasy scores using configurable scoring rules (PPR, Standard, Half-PPR, custom). Player updates get sent to the board regularly. The backend also tracks matchup state and tells the board when scoring happens. ### Display Subsystem A screen shows current scores for both players, the quarter/time remaining, and key player stats. Updates in real time as NFL games progress and players score. Simple and easy to read during gameplay. ### Visual Feedback Subsystem RGB LEDs integrated into the board or on player card positions. LEDs change color or pulse when a player scores, gets injured, or other events happen. Brightness scales with total team score or match intensity to give feedback about the game state. ### Audio Feedback Subsystem A speaker plays sounds for touchdowns, field goals, and major events. Audio alerts signal the start and end of matchups and notify players of scoring updates. Adjustable volume so users can control how loud it gets. ### Power Subsystem The device runs on external power. Voltage regulation provides stable power to the microcontroller, NFC reader, LEDs, display, and other components. ### User Interface Subsystem Physical buttons or controls let users start matchups, swap player cards, and adjust settings like brightness and volume without a phone. If we have time, we could add Bluetooth on the microcontroller to enable an app for customizing color assignments, scoring rules, and other settings. ## Criterion for Success The project will be successful if it can: - Reliably identify and locate NFC player cards on the board. - Validate lineup configurations and prevent invalid matchups from starting. - Fetch live NFL player statistics and calculate fantasy scores based on the configured scoring system. - Update and display scores as NFL games progress. - Produce visual feedback (LED color changes or pulses) in response to scoring events. - Produce audio alerts for touchdowns, field goals, and other major events. - Allow two players to set up and start a matchup in a reasonable amount of time. - Operate reliably for extended periods of gameplay. - Control LED channels independently and show color transitions between events. |
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