InfoCoral: Open-Source Hardware for Low-Cost, High-Density Concurrent Simple Response Ubiquitous Systems

A Clicker or a wireless student response system is an example of a high density simple response ubiquitous system that processes real-time simple responses from a large number of students in a controlled environment like a classroom. Currently such systems are expensive and use proprietary hardware which makes it difficult to extend them for novel learning scenarios. This paper presents the design and implementation of a hybrid low-cost open-source hardware platform called Info Coral that uses the 1-Wire wired protocol in conjunction with Bluetooth or a Zigbee wireless interface. The hardware also employs the open-source Arduino software for ease of programming and customization. A Case study of applying this platform to build a low-cost clicker system for a K-12 classroom is also presented.