Project Usage

This project allows people who need accessibility tech to "roll" the dice. Use it to play games like Yahtzee, left right center, math activities, war with dice, rock paper scissor dice and even bowling dice.

Toys & Games 

Just press the glowing arcade button to spin the platter! The twisty top snow globe easily comes off and you can put dice or whatever object (LEGO maybe?) you want on the platter to roll and spin. The platter spins pretty fast so you can get a good roll. Or use D20's to make a random number generator!

Assistive Tech – Switch Adapted

This idea originally came from the ATMakers.org facebook group. A thread about adapting a dice roller featured some ideas and started the conversion about different design methods. Member, Brady Fulton, shared a concept he designed in Fusion 360 that I really liked and decided to base our design off his.  

Built for Project Lessons

Think of this project as an introduction to electronics and mechanical design. As an educator, this type of project could be useful to teach students how to approach problems and how they can solve them with design and engineering.

Automatic Dice Rollers

These devices are available from online retailers. They all kinda look alike and have similar designs, a black cylindrical box with a cup and small button to make a green velvet platter spin. Our version is much more colorful, visually appealing and generally more fancy.

Prerequisite Guides

If your new to electronics and soldering, I suggest walking through the following guides to get the basics. The Adafruit Excellent guide to soldering will walk you through process of learning how to use a soldering iron to make solid electrical connections.

Electronic Components

The VERTER 5V USB Buck-Boost, DC Motor and LED arcade button are the main electronic components used in this project.

1 x DC Motor
130 size
1 x Mini LED Arcade Button
24mm Translucent Clear
1 x VERTER 5V USB Buck-Boost
500mA from 3V-5V / 1000ma from 5V-12V
1 x 9V battery clip
with 5.5mm/2.1mm plug
1 x Radial Ball Bearing
608ZZ - Set of 4
1 x Alkaline 9V Battery
Battery power for your portable project
1 x DIY Snow Globe Kit
Plastic 108mm Diameter
1 x TRS Jack Connector
Panel Mount 1/8" (3.5mm)

Hardware and Supplies

Just a few screws, wires and some handy supplies. 

1 x M2.5 x .45 x 5mm
Flat Head Phillips Machine Screws
1 x M2.5 x .45 x 10mm
Flat Head Phillips Machine Screws
1 x 26AWG Wire
Silicone Cover Stranded-Core Wire - 25ft
1 x Solder Wire
Solder Spool - 1/4 lb SAC305 RoHS lead-free / 0.031" rosin-core - 0.25 lb / 100 g
1 x Heat Shrink Tubing
Multi-Colored Heat Shrink Pack - 3/32" + 1/8" + 3/16" Diameters
1 x Mounting Putty Tack
Loctite Fun-Tak Mounting Putty 2-Ounce
1 x Velour Paper Sheets
Textured surface for the rotating platter
1 x 20-sided Dice (optional)
10 Pack of Random Color D20 Polyhedral Dice

Cool Tools!

These help make the project a smooth building experience. You don't need them all of them, but I recommend them.

1 x Spudger
Double Sided Prying Tool
1 x Wire Strippers
Hakko Professsional Quality 20-30 AWG Wire Strippers - CSP-30-1
1 x Wire Cutters
Flush diagonal cutters - CHP170
1 x Soldering Iron
Adjustable 30W 110V soldering iron - XY-258 110V
1 x Panavise
Panavise Jr. - PV-201
1 x Helping Third Hands
Helping Third Hand Magnifier W/Magnifying Glass Tool - MZ101
1 x Ultimaker 2+
3D Printer

This guide was first published on Mar 14, 2018. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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