Since putting a lid on the glockenspiel case, I’ve been wrestling with exactly how to label the robotic glockenspiel buttons: If I had a laser engraver I probably would have engraved (woodburned) the labels on; sticking paper labels on could look pretty sloppy; decals sounded like a production of their own, with the risk of gumming up my printer; painting the labels would require a steady hand; woodburning by hand is another option; so is gluing on scroll-sawn raised labels.
Continue reading Scrollsawed Button Labels for the GlockenspielHow to Soften LED Light with a Ping Pong Ball
Some time ago I read that you can use a ping pong ball to soften the harsh light of an LED, so I thought I’d try it out.
Step 0: pick out a white ping pong ball. I used a standard 40mm ball; I could have used a 35mm Foosball instead.
Step 1: make a hole in the ping pong ball to hold your LED. For a 5mm LED, an ice pick heated on a stove top is an handy tool for making that hole. I haven’t tried a drill press, but that seems another possibility.
Step 2: set up a circuit to blink an LED, perhaps using an Arduino Pro Mini.
Step 3: press the ping pong ball onto the LED. For a more permanent mechanical connection, you could glue the LED into the ping pong ball using a hot glue gun.
Step 4: Enjoy the magical, diffuse light of the LED in the ping pong ball. You may need to turn out the lights to see it well. Have a look at my Blinking Ping Pong Ball LED video of the result.
So a ping pong ball really is a quick and easy light diffuser for your LEDs – disco time! …or you can paint pupils on them to create blinking night-creature eyes as in this Hidden Creatures Arduino & LED Blinking Eyes Kit video.
Arduino Pro Mini, and How to Solder Male Headers
I recently decided to try out the Sparkfun Arduino Pro Mini 5V board. It has almost all the I/O that an Arduino Uno has, in a much smaller board. It comes without connectors, so you can solder in whatever style connector you need. For my uses, I needed to solder on male headers that allow it to plug into a breadboard.
So I tried out a new way of soldering male header pins onto a board. First I snapped off two 12-long headers from a strip of break-away male headers. Then I plugged those headers into a breadboard and laid the Arduino Pro Mini board over them. To keep the flux and solder spatter from getting into the breadboard holes, I put a piece of paper over the unused parts of the breadboard.
Continue reading Arduino Pro Mini, and How to Solder Male HeadersPutting Hinges, Lid on the Glockenspiel
Since fixing the sound of the chimes, I’ve been finishing the software for the glockenspiel. Now all the buttons work: on/off, play/pause, skip back, skip forward, and shuffle. Woohoo!
Today I made the lid, attached the molding on the edges of the lid, attached the piano hinge and attached the side hinges. It’s not fine furniture, but I’m learning a lot about how to make The Real Thing. For example, don’t sand the wood with the sandpaper you used to remove rust from your new scrollsaw (ouch!).
All the hardware (except the front latch and the feet, which should install easity) is now installed. So now I’ve taken all the hardware off so I can easily do the labels and spray the finish.
Next I plan to label the buttons – I plan to try woodburning – the end is in sight!
Silicone Pads Make a Lovely Sound
Now that the control buttons are in the circuit, I’ve tamed the clanking noise of the Robotic Glockenspiel! Hear it in this YouTube video.
In an earlier post I mentioned that I’d used a tube of silicone to put a drop of silicone on each solenoid, to reduce the loud ‘clank’ when the solenoid strikes the chime. I found out that a drop of silicone is way too much: the chimes hardly sounded at all.
Continue reading Silicone Pads Make a Lovely SoundThe First Switch is In
Since my last post about the glockenspiel, I’ve been taking a vacation from my vacation (aka working). Today I turned back to the glockenspiel and wired up the first of the 5 lighted switches.
Continue reading The First Switch is InCollaboration is Not Part of Making; It’s the Heart of Making
This post is about what I’ve learned about Making through the Robotic Glockenspiel project.
Continue reading Collaboration is Not Part of Making; It’s the Heart of MakingDesign Thinking Via the Robotic Glockenspiel Project
Now that the glockenspiel is working and in a case, this post is about what I’ve learned about Design Thinking through my Robotic Glockenspiel project.
Caveat: since I didn’t apply formal Design Thinking to the project, I’m going to be shamelessly revisionistic in order to talk about how the project would have been better via Design Thinking.
Continue reading Design Thinking Via the Robotic Glockenspiel ProjectIt’s All in the Box (Except for the Buttons)
In my previous post, I started putting the glockenspiel case together. Now I’ve bolted the glockenspiel harp and circuit boards into the base of the box, and temporarily mounted the handles and buttons. I still need to wire up the buttons.
Continue reading It’s All in the Box (Except for the Buttons)Gluing the Glockenspiel Box
Now that the glockenspiel plays a number of Christmas carols, it’s time to put it in a box.
After a pile of routing I’m now nailing and gluing the Robotic Glockenspiel box together. Since this is a first prototype (the flat chime harp is too large to be practical), I’ve made the box sides from 3/4″ x 6″ “white wood” (fir or pine) instead of hardwoods, and made no attempt to conceal the nails.
Continue reading Gluing the Glockenspiel Box