Building Fastest Finger First Indicator With Arduino

The Fastest Finger First Indicator system operates by monitoring eight independent push buttons (SW1 through SW8), each assigned to a different quiz team. The Arduino Mega, running code compiled through the Arduino IDE, continuously scans these input pins for a low-to-high or high-to-low state change corresponding to a button press. The moment the microcontroller registers the first valid input transition, it locks out subsequent button presses to ensure fairness and prevent later inputs from altering the result. Once the winning team's input is captured, the Arduino communicates the corresponding team number or identifier to the P10 LED display module. The P10 module renders this text or number brightly and clearly in real-time, allowing participants and audience members to immediately see who pressed first. Because P10 LED matrix panels require substantial operating current to illuminate their high-brightness surface diodes, the system utilizes two separate power supplies: one dedicated power supply safely handles the high-current demands of the P10 display, while the second power supply powers the Arduino Mega board independently. This dual-power configuration prevents voltage sags, logic resets, and electrical noise from interfering with the microcontroller's digital input scanning accuracy.