Thread: Detecting collisions

I am trying to detect the collision between a moving Jbutton and stationary Jbuttons using Rectangle Intersection. When I run the program I am getting a NullPointerException on line 'msg1.setBounds(new Rectangle(320,50,400,50));'. Any suggestions on how to fix the problem? Thanks!

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
 
public class gamePanel01 extends JPanel implements KeyListener
{
 
    character ch1 = new character("Hero");
 
    //Global Variables
    JButton blocker01;
    JButton blocker02;
    JButton blocker03;
    JButton blocker04;
    JButton blocker05;
    JLabel msg1;
    JLabel msg2;
 
    //Character movement Variables
    int x=100;
    int y=100;
 
    //Image for background of gamePanel01
    ClassLoader cl = this.getClass().getClassLoader();    
    Image gamePanelBG = new ImageIcon(cl.getResource("images/gamePanel01.jpg")).getImage();
    ImageIcon PSUBlocker = new ImageIcon(cl.getResource("images/PSU_Helmet_Blocker.gif"));
    ImageIcon PSULionRight = new ImageIcon(cl.getResource("images/NittanyLion_Mini_Right.png"));
    ImageIcon PSULionLeft = new ImageIcon(cl.getResource("images/NittanyLion_Mini_Left.png"));
 
    public gamePanel01()
    {
    super();
    setLayout(null);
 
    add(ch1);    
    ch1.setIcon(PSULionRight);
    ch1.setBounds(new Rectangle(x,y,45,45));
    ch1.addKeyListener(this);
 
    ch1.setFocusPainted(false);
    ch1.setContentAreaFilled(false);
    ch1.setBorderPainted(false);
 
 
    //Blocker Buttons created/added
    blocker01 = new JButton();
    blocker02 = new JButton();
    blocker03 = new JButton();
    blocker04 = new JButton();
    blocker05 = new JButton();
 
    add(blocker01);
    add(blocker02);
    add(blocker03);
    add(blocker04);
    add(blocker05);
    //Blocker Button Placement-------------------------------------------------
    //**********Rectangle Parameters (x,y,length,height)
    blocker01.setBounds(new Rectangle(250,150,45,45));
    blocker02.setBounds(new Rectangle(250,195,45,45));
    blocker03.setBounds(new Rectangle(400,240,45,45));
    blocker04.setBounds(new Rectangle(400,285,45,45));
    blocker05.setBounds(new Rectangle(400,330,45,45));
 
 
    //Set Images to Buttons and Button Parameters
    blocker01.setIcon(PSUBlocker);
    blocker01.setFocusPainted(false);
    blocker01.setContentAreaFilled(false);
    blocker01.setBorderPainted(false);
 
    blocker02.setIcon(PSUBlocker);
    blocker02.setFocusPainted(false);
    blocker02.setContentAreaFilled(false);
    blocker02.setBorderPainted(false);
 
    blocker03.setIcon(PSUBlocker);
    blocker03.setFocusPainted(false);
    blocker03.setContentAreaFilled(false);
    blocker03.setBorderPainted(false);
 
    blocker04.setIcon(PSUBlocker);
    blocker04.setFocusPainted(false);
    blocker04.setContentAreaFilled(false);
    blocker04.setBorderPainted(false);
 
    blocker05.setIcon(PSUBlocker);
    blocker05.setFocusPainted(false);
    blocker05.setContentAreaFilled(false);
    blocker05.setBorderPainted(false);
 
    msg1.setBounds(new Rectangle(320,50,400,50));
    msg2.setBounds(new Rectangle(320,280,400,50));
    add(msg1);
    add(msg2);
 
     if (ch1.intersects(blocker01))
    {msg1.setText("ch1 and blocker01 intersect");}
    else
    {msg1.setText("ch1 and blocker01 do not intersect");}
    if (ch1.intersects(blocker02))
    {msg2.setText("ch1 and blocker02 intersect");}
    else
    {msg2.setText("ch1 and blocker02 do not intersect");}
 
    }
    @Override
   public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
   {
   super.paintComponent(g);
   g.drawImage(gamePanelBG, 0, 0, this);
    }
 
   public void keyPressed(KeyEvent ev)
  {
      int k= ev.getKeyCode();      
      if (k==KeyEvent.VK_LEFT){
          x=x-5;
          ch1.setIcon(PSULionLeft);
      }
      if(k==KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT) {
          x=x+5;
          ch1.setIcon(PSULionRight);
      }
      if(k==KeyEvent.VK_UP) {y=y-5;}
      if(k==KeyEvent.VK_DOWN) {y=y+5;}
      ch1.setBounds(new Rectangle(x,y,45,45));
      //Rectangle r1=new Rectangle(x,y,45,45);
      //setBounds(r1);
 
  }
   public void keyReleased(KeyEvent evt) {  }
 
   public void keyTyped(KeyEvent evt) {  }
 
}