While at Maker Faire I picked up a couple Game of Life kits. These are based on Conway's "Game of Life," an example of automata and convergent systems. Basically, lights are lit based on very simple rules (ie if a light is not touching any other light, it is extinguished...) From these simple rules, what appears to be complex 'intelligence' can emerge. 'Lifeforms' can seem to pop into existence, 'spaceships' fly around, and eventually one can begin to discerne a complex behaviour from very simple rules. I've always loved the game of life and I especially loved the modular nature of this kit; kits can be added onto each other to create a larger 'board'. In the picture above you can see I attached 4 of them together to create a 16x16 matrix (as opposed to the 4x4 that each kit comes with.)      Unfortunately, as with Conway's original Game of Life, sometimes the kit can enter a loop that will repeat indefinitely. The kit does come with a reset button, but who wants to hit that everytime a loop is entered? Hence, I came up with a simple PIC based PCB that can be added onto the back that will reset the unit every 20 minutes (this is about the cycle that I could find would maximize the randomness but limit the amount  of repeatedness. This time can be adjusted if you want.)

		Here is the PCB. It is very simple and I built it on a perfboard (from Sparkfun.) Basically it's a PIC 12f675 microcontroller, a .1uF capacitor, a 10k resistor, and a simple NPN transistor. You can also see 2 headers I used for testing the circuit.
	Here is the ExpressPCB schematic. You can download all the files at the bottom of this page. The way this works is basically it send a reset signal (tricking the Game of Life kit into resetting) every 20 minutes. The Button connector goes straight to the button on the back of the kits.      The Test+ and Test- are used to make sure it's working. All I did was plugged in a buzzer so that I could hear the 'chirp' every 2 minutes letting me know the unit was working. The buzzer can then be removed.
		Here you can see the PCB installed on the back of the kits. Basically, I tied all of the reset buttons together (little black wires), thereby resetting all four units at the same time. The hack piggybacks on the power and ground lines (red wire with power and ground inside). These are just connected to the kits' power and ground lines. Lastly, the green wire is connected from the Button connector on the back of the PCB to the button connector on the back of one of the kits. This injects the reset signal every 20 minutes.      You may wonder what the big black wire is- this is just the power supply that goes into a standard 'wall-wart.' I connected it to the kits with wire ties for wear and tear.
	Here is a picture of the whole unit (you can click on this or any picture for a closeup.) It includes a wooden stand I built and as you can see, the added PCB is not visible. It has turned into quite a conversation piece and I recommend everyone out there to try this kit.
		Here is the wooden stand I made. Just a piece of hardwood with a groove cut out of it and stained.

You can download the schematics, source code, hex file and pictures here.    Please also do not hesitate to email me with any questions.    Enjoy!!!!!!