First Time Project Starter -- Need some advice

Beginners
#1

hey guys, i’m looking to do a first time project (and i want to do it right, and unfortunately, time is on my side so i cannot start on any smaller prjects then this), and i need some advice.

I want to create a small little 10 button singular press (not hold) Voice box with 10 sounds, which will be pre recorded, and transferred onto the device.

Now the lovely owners of this community and website have so far linked me to one product which they believe is good… and i believe them… However, i dont think its ALL the parts i need.

so far, i have these 2 products.

is there anything else that i am missing? Tactile switches? breadboard?

Once again i am very new, so i want it to be as Fuss free as humanly possible. I am aware that at some point if i want these items to meld together in a secure fashion, i will have to solder… i want to avoid that until i know the base product works first… that is, i can fit the wires up to the correct places, get the tactile switches working, have the sounds play through the singular speaker in which i am going to use, and then solder.

Any advice would greatly help.

Please and thank you.

#2

I did the same kind of project a couple of years ago and it is still going well. I use it for pipe organ performance accompaniment as a cantor. I press a track button once, and it plays that track to the end and stops. No delays anywhere, which is nice. No strange popup windows. Always the same volume. No chance of accidental mute. No chance of it being used for anything else.

I used a Sistema transparent lunch box from a supermarket as the case. I used a stepped drill bit under running water at slowest possible rotation speed to cut the holes for switches and audio socket.

Inside it has four alkaline AA cells in a switched box, connected to the Sparkfun MP3 Trigger board that you can find on Little Bird’s catalog. It uses a microSD card, so is easier to reprogram than the more recent Adafruit product you refer to. But higher price. The Sparkfun WAV Trigger board is similar.

I soldered header pins everywhere, including on the switches. That way I was able to use female to female jumper cables instead of worrying about how to separate the front panel from the main board when servicing.

There’s a 3.5mm audio socket to which I attach a stage foldback amplifier.

The unit is transported once a week, and none of the jumpers have come loose. Don’t use breadboards, they aren’t really vibration resistant.

The batteries are replaced once a year, and they don’t usually need to be replaced; it is still running fine, I just don’t want to risk it going flat at the moment of performance. :grinning:

Any questions, ask.

#3

after many many video watchings, i’ve learned exactly what i need to do, its sounding pretty basic, and a lot of the hard work is already done for me.

the last thing i need to know is 1. can i solder into a bread board? if not then 2. What do i solder into exactly? 3.whats the product name that i can use to solder into?

#4

It depends on what you mean by breadboard. There are several meanings.

If you mean the prototyping breadboards sold by our sponsors here, then no, they aren’t intended for soldering, and take way more work than is worth it, because the clips have to be removed from the plastic surroundings first.

If you mean breadboards that are only fibreglass and copper, yes, you can solder to them.

With the products you’ve identified in your post, the only soldering I would do is to add pin header connectors, as I’ve already mentioned. The Adafruit board comes with pin headers.

The Adafruit board does show a suggested layout using breadboard (below), but this is not resilient or permanent. It could last a few months. What product lifetime do you need?

Instead, you can solder wires from the Adafruit board directly to your speakers and switches. As I said before, I used pin connectors and socketed cables instead, it was easier for me.

#5

“what product lifetime do you need”

i need a product lifetime of about 1 year +. As i am making a space marine armour cosplay costume, and this soundboard will fit into the side, and the speaker will fit over the mouth piece, so as to sound like i am speaking, when i’m just pressing buttons.

“Instead, you can solder wires from the Adafruit board directly to your speakers and switches.”

i have a basic understanding, and i am comprehending the speaker part… but how would i go about soldering the wires to the switches? Sorry i am so far from a noob its not funny, i just learned not even 45 minutes ago how to make LED lights turn on, from a YouTube video.

i hope you don’t give up on me x.x i am nearing the ending of this and starting to comprehend.

Do you think you could help me with a diagram or something? i’m a bit of a visual person. or even a picture of your previous escapades?

Please and thank you!

#6

No worries. Not at all troubled by your newbie questions; you probably have some skill that I’d be a newbie in, so fair’s fair. :wink:

How you will solder to them depends on the switches you use, and where you will mount them into the costume.

In one costume I made about 20 years ago I used two tilt switches in shirt sleeves near wrist. Now, I would use them with conductive thread. But if you need ten buttons this wouldn’t work; only two wrists available. I presume you want to mount the buttons on a helmet.

http://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/lilypad-button-board is a single tactile button. You can either solder a wire to it, or use conductive thread and sew it in.

http://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/fabric-button-pad-5-buttons is a set of five buttons. I would use male jumper leads instead of soldering to that connector.

Take into account the gestures inherent in positioning buttons near your neck; it looks wrong or sends the wrong body language message to touch your neck in some cultures.

You will need to practice soldering. The trick is to try to avoid soldering, given you have no experience with it, or solder everything so you learn. To practice soldering, get some copper wire, electronics solder (not plumbing solder), and an iron. You put the wire in contact with another wire, heat it for about two to five seconds with the iron, and apply small amount of solder to the wire on the other side to where your iron touches it. There are some soldering videos to watch.

I don’t have a camera handy, so I can’t give you a drawing, but from the sound of it you would be doing the same thing as in the product photograph but use nothing under the Adafruit board and the buttons. Instead replace the breadboard with wires.

Next question?

#7

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#8

so, all in all. I’m look at the following inventory:

http:// littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/adafruit-audio-fx-sound-board-2x2w-amp-wav-ogg-trigger-16mb
http:// littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/jumper-wires-connected-6-m-f-20-pack
http:// littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/adafruit-pro-trinket-liion-lipoly-backpack-add-on
http:// littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/speaker-3-diameter-8-ohm-1-watt
http:// littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/tactile-switch-buttons-12mm-square-6mm-tall-x-10-pack

sound right?

#9

Hmm, almost.

You need to add a battery from the Adafruit collection. The backpack part doesn’t include a battery, or I’ve misread it. The size will depend on how long you need the circuit to run for. That’s hard to know without having the circuit being tested, along with the audio files. Power will depend on playback time, standby time, volume, and the complexity of the sound. Low pitch sounds cost more power. So I can’t recommend any specific battery.

As an alternative power source, OfficeWorks and some other places have a tubular Comsol mobile phone booster battery, which provides 5V when plugged in. If you have room in the costume.

I’ve changed my mind on the wires; I’d avoid jumper wires in a costume, because they might pull out, instead I’d solder everything. So go for a nice wire. The silicone wire should be good http://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/silicone-cover-stranded-core-wire-26awg-in-various-colors but it is out of stock. Perhaps our sponsors here can suggest an alternative.

Lastly, those buttons need something to sit on. I suggest a 2cmx8cm protoboard, such as http://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/double-side-protoboard-2cm-8cm which can handle five switches per board with three rows left over, so you need two. I’ve one on my desk and tested it with roughly the same type of tactile switch just now. You would solder the switches into the board, and then solder wires to the correct points on the back or front. (The switches have four wires, but they are connected inside so there are really only two different wires electrically speaking).

#10

excellent!

i have everything in the terms of knowledge to get up and going.

I shall reply to this Topic whilst i am underway with the step by step processes, to see if i am doing things right.

I’ll get a bread board first of course to make sure that everything i do, is done right.

Thank you so much for your help @quozl . it is IMMENSELY appreciated

Please dont lock this thread, yet. pleeease?

TTFN!

#11

OKAY! so this is going to be the supposed LAST POST, from me anyway… This reply is going to be edited and added and expanded upon.

FIRST STEP… Acquiring the parts, for not only this project, but for future projects as well. so i have an (albeit expensive) valuable starting kit

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1 Like
#12

Ladyada’s Electonics Toolkit has a soldering iron suitable for 120V only. Have you already got a 120V domestic supply? If not, you’ll need a converter to run it. If you are on 240V only, you might ask our sponsors if they are willing to open the toolkit and substitute a 240V iron for you.

#13

i dont have much of anything sadly. This is going to be my first time doing anything :smile:

@James . can i get it swapped with a 240V please?

#14

just had a thought @quozl .

since it may be a bit weird seeking to press buttons on my face… how would one do this project, if it was to be used in say… a glove? being that the actual buttons are on the glove, and the speaker is at the mouth?

troublesome? over-complicated?

#15

Yes, possible, troublesome, and complicated, but it really depends on what you need.

I’d be worried about having the wires longer than about 30cm, because they will pick up stray magnetic and radiofrequency interference, and might cause false triggers. Especially with any mobile phones around.

The Adafruit sound module can take remote control input but you have to buy or build the remote control receiver section. Which might be infrared or radio to a handheld device.

Adding remote control is about ten times the complexity and time of just hooking up buttons.

Have a look at

for ideas. Unfortunately this particular frequency (315 MHz) isn’t available to you if you are in Australia, so you’ll have to pick a different transmitter and receiver.

(To be precise, 315 MHz can be used, but only with power below 10µW (ten microwatts), and the Adafruit transmitter key fobs are way above that power level, as they are designed for the US where a higher power is permitted.)

Have you thought of grabbing a tiny prepaid mobile running Android, throw away the SIM, and use that as the sound source and use another mobile as remote control over WiFi? :wink:

#16

due to the materials used in making said costume, its not going to be conductive x.x and i want to avoid using a display as much as possible.

all is well though! Thank you for your response!