Facilitator Preparation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 11:15:10 +0000

Facilitator Preparation

If you are a facilitator, there is a couple of things we need to prepare before the workshop - otherwise you can skip this section and go straight to Introduction to Microcontollers

USB Battery Charger

The most essential preparation is soldering the battery and charger. This is the weakest part of the assembly and you can expect some breakage during the workshop so have spares ready, or the soldering iron warmed up.

Cut two female Jumper wires and tin the cut ends
Solder the Jumper wires to the battery charger
Solder the RED battery lead to the + connector on the charger
Solder the Black battery lead to the - connector on the charger

Lasercut Cases

The cases can be cut beforehand, or as part of the workshop to demonstrate the laser cutter in use.

Using the 12 sheet layout

takes about 20 minutes to cut 12 sets of case parts from an A2 6mm sheet.

Trim Arduino Pins

To make the assembly as easy as possible - we can trim the un-needed pins from the nano. This takes a couple of minutes per Arduino.

Flip your Nano so the pins are facing up and the USB port is on the left.

The ONLY pins we need to leave are

D10,D9,D8 and Ground on the bottom
and 3v3, 5v and Ground on the top

Examine the labeled side carefully.

note the labels on the pins
double check before cutting

Flip the nano back over then cut off the pins with your side-cutters.

Watch out for the offcuts! They will fly about!

Half-way there - this is pins D10,D9,D8 and Ground

Now on the other side - GND, 5V and 3V3

Finally, cut off the 6 pins on the top of the Nano

Prepare milk bottles - Optional

Each participant will need at least two milk bottles for vacuum forming.

These can be cut as part of the workshop or beforehand.

Badgeduino

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 11:15:02 +0000

Badgeduino

The Edge Jan 2018

Summary

Participants will create a wearable electronic badge. The badge has a programmable 8×8 LED Matrix display with a re-chargable battery, a laser-cut frame, with a weather resistant hand-made vacuum formed shell.

This workshop was initially developed for the Flying Arts program ArtizINNOVATE@theEdge in June 2017, then run at Woodford Folk Festival 2017/2018. This version was adapted to run in-house at SLQ The Edge in 2018.

What is wearable technology/wearables?

Wearables are smart electronic devices (electronic device with micro-controllers) that can be worn on the body as implants or accessories ¹⁾

Image by Pebble Technology CC BY-SA 1.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Wearable technology should be:

robust
reliable
simple to operate
small enough to wear

This workshop is designed to be an accessible introduction to electronics assembly.

we have chosen a simple design with:

large components
no soldering
robust enough to be taken apart
can be vacuum formed over and over

Skills Introduced

high level overview of circuit and components
case assembly and wiring between components
vacuum Forming
coding in the Arduino IDE

Materials

Electronics

Material	Quantity	Cost	Supplier
Arduino Nano v3	1	$3.40	AliExpress
MAX7219-dot-matrix-module	1	$2.10	AliExpress
Lithium Ion Polymer Battery - 3.7v 500mAh	1	$5.70	AliExpress, $5.70
Micro USB LiPo charger w/ Protection	1	$0.8	AliExpress, $0.45
Short USB Cable - USB-A to Micro USB	1	$2	Tronixlabs
Jumper wire 75mm - female -female	5	$0.14	Tronixlabs
	Total	$14.14

Case

Case	1	$4	In-house
m2.5 X 12mm bolt	2	0.02	in-house
m2.5 x 25mm bolt	2	0.02	in-house and Shell
m2.5 nut	6	0.06	in-house
Attachment / Clip / Lanyard	1	$0.22	AliExpress
	TOTAL:	$4.32

Shell

Material	Quantity	Cost	Supplier
Milk bottle sheets	2	$?	In-house

Tools and Prepartion

Tools

computer with working USB 2.0 ports
a working internet connection (or pre-downloaded files)

craft knife
scissors
small Phillips screw driver
small pliers
side cutters

hot glue gun
hot air gun

the Edge Vacuum former

Introduction to Arduino Microcontrollers

What is a micro controller?

A microcontroller (or MCU for microcontroller unit) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit.

one or more CPUs (processor cores)
memory
programmable input/output peripherals
can be mixed signal devices interacting with
- digital signals
- analog singals

Why use an MCU?

Microcontrollers are small, low powered and robust, making them perfect for embedded systems such as;

medical devices
remote controls
office machines
appliances
power tools
toys
wearables!

What is Arduino?

Arduino is an open source computer hardware and software company, project, and user community ²⁾ .

the hardware is based on the Amtel 8-bit AVR MCU
the software uses the Processing IDE, with a simplified version of the C++ language.
open source has led to the creation of a huge range of
- clones,
- compatible devices
- peripherals
a strong community means
- “someone, somewhere has solved the problem”
- we can run this workshop using and adapting existing resources.

Assembly and Testing

Its time to get started!

Step One: Connecting and Testing the Arduino Nano

Download the Arduino IDE

Download the latest version of the Arduino IDE.

Select your operating system and when prompted choose “Just Download”.

If you are using a genuine Arduino with the FT chipsets you won't need to download any drivers on PC and MacOS Sierra or later. If you are using a knockoff Arduino with the CH340G chip you will need to download the drivers for Mac.

Follow the instruction and install the program on your computer.

Connect Your Arduino

A red and then a green LED will light up on the Arduino, indicating that it's receiving power (for some Arduino's this may just be a single red light).

Now launch Arduino IDE.

Go to the Tools menu and change the following:

Board to Arduino Nano
Processor to ATmega328
Port to USB/Serial (different depending on OS and Chip)
- If you're having problems finding a USB port you most likely need to download the correct drivers.
  
  Once again exact OS (and version) as well as the chip make a big difference.

Once that is done, run “Get Board Info” in the same menu, this should bring up a small popup with some information.

As long a you're not receiving an error in the console, you have successfully connected your Arduino!

Test with the Blink Example

Another step you can take to test that everything is working is to locate one of the basic example projects and upload it to the Arduino.

go to File → Examples → 01.Basic → Blink
click on the verify button (Check mark) and let it compile.

You should get a message at the top of the console telling you when it's done (this should take no more than a few seconds).
once this is done, without any errors, click the Upload button (Arrow).
this will upload the instructions to the Arduino and it will say “Done Uploading” when everything has worked.
your red LED on the Nano should now be blinking.

One second on, one second off.
uploading scripts to your Arduino works!

Now we are ready for the real projects.

Step Two: Assemble the LED panel and Nano

First let's peel the paper and pop out our case parts

And peel off the plastic cover on the LED panel

Then take the LED panel off its board. You can use the back of the pliers

Be gentle and try not to bend the pins

Attach the LED board to the case back panel using the four m2.5 bolts and nuts. The two 12 mm (short) screws are for the top

Then the two 25mm bolts for the bottom

Tighten gently with the screwdriver

Pop the LED panel back on. Check it is the right way round, and the panel is level

We're going to connect five jumper leads to the Arduino from the LED board

detach one wire from your stack of five
separate the rest out a little on each end

Attach the wires - from bottom to top:

SCL/CLK (System Clock)
DIN(Data In)
CS (Chip Select)
GND (Ground)

Feed them through the slot

Flip the case round and place your Nano in the slot

Attach:

SCL/CLK (System Clock) → D10
DIN(Data In) → D8
CS (Chip Select) → D9
GND (Ground) → GND

Now back to the front, and attach

VCC (Voltage In) → +5V

Plug it into your computer - time to test our blinky lights!

Step Three: Using the Library and Project

Now its time to check our Arduino and LED are talking to each other.

Download and install the Library

In order to make the LED display a lot easier to work with we'll need to install a custom version of the MaxMatrix library (found in the download section below)

go to Sketch → Include Library → Add .ZIP Library
just find and click the downloaded file and it will be added to your project automatically

Download and open the project

Below you will find the project files compressed into a .ZIP file

extract the content wherever you'd like it and open up the wearables_matrix_ino file
the .INO file format should be associated with Arduino and will launch automatically
alternatively you can open Arduino and select the File → Open option in the menu

Note: You won't be able to run this script unless you have downloaded the library above.

Upload the Project

It is time to test your project file in your badge. Upload it the same way as the blink file. Your badge should say Free Bear Hugs.

Step Four: Fit the Battery

It is time to fit and connect the battery. Both the battery and the charging board have protection circuitry but must always be handled with care.

Make sure you take care when handling the battery.

check that the RED wire from the battery is connected to B+ and the BLACK wire is connected to B-
do not let any conductive surfaces or wires touch. (This will short the battery which makes it unusable)
if this is not correct please notify the facilitator immediately!

the components will need to be rewired or swapped out

First make some space under the pins of the LED curcuit board

Slide the battery in and hold it in position with your thumb

Slide the USB charge board into the slot

Connect:

battery - (negative) to Arduino Ground (GND)
battery + (positive) to Arduino 3V input (3v3)
your Arduino will light up, and if your battery has enough charge, so will the LED screen

Step Five: Assemble the Case

Grab the case front

Use the two remaining m2.5 nuts to fix the front of the case

Grab the case bottom

Line up the Arduino end first

Then slide the case so it sits flat

Insert the Lanyard

Its time to hot glue the lanyard clip into place.

The lanyard will not click out after this, it will no longer be removable.

First remove the Lanyard clip from the necklace

Hot glue the lanyard clip into the spacer

Slide the lanyard clip in behind the LED screen

Hot glue it in place

Step Six: Vacuum Forming

Vacuum forming is an almost instantaneous process, so we need to get all set up before we start, and make a jig to hold the case in place

Making our Jig

Slide one of the blocks into the jig piece

Hot glue it into place

Line up your jig in the centre of the vacuum former plate

Carefully place your badgeduino on top

Prepare your Plastic

Unscrew the wing-nuts on the vacuum former frame

Fit your sheet of plastic in the frame

Tighten the wing-nuts firmly

Begin heating your plastic with the hot air gun

It will slowly start to go clear

Keep heating

When the entire sheet is clear - grab it

And lower it over your badge

do it from the top - looking down
do it quickly! You have about 5 seconds before the plastic starts to cool

Turn on your vacuum ….fast

Turn it off when the plastic has gone milky again

Congratulations ! You've made a vacuum form!

Clean up and fit Lanyard

Remove the jig

Carefully cut through the thinned plastic with the craft knife

Cut through the thick fins with your scissors

Trim the fins with your knife - always cut away from yourself

Cut free the lanyard socket

Glue the lanyard clip in

Step Seven: Creative PLay

Plug your Badgeduino in to test!

Hacking the Code

While it is beyond the scope of this workshop to teach your how to program your Arduino - here are some tips on:

changing the displayed text
displaying a symbol
changing the speed of the text scrolling

void loop()
{
 // displayText(text1, 100);  // Send scrolling Text
  displayText(text2, 100);  // Send scrolling Text
  //displayCustom(smile01, 1000);
}

Look for the void loop() section. This contains what your Arduino will do once it turns on. In this case it will:

ignore displayText(text1, 100); as it has been commented out with two backslashes
displayText(text2, 100)
ignore displayCustom(smile01, 1000);

Want to change the displayed text?

look for text2

 char text2[] = " FREE BEAR HUGS!!!    ";  // Scrolling Text

and change it.

char text2[] = " I Have Changed!!  ";  // Scrolling Text

References

MaxMatrix Github

Downloads

Arduino

Laser Cutter Layouts

These files are for cutting on The Edge Rayjet. Settings are:

Colour	Power	Speed	Description
Black	100	10	text markings
Red	100	1	smallest shapes
Blue	100	1	inner shapes
Desert Blue	100	1	outer shapes
Cyan	100	1	frame outline

Laser cutter single shapes

Theses are the single shapes as DXFs

Old Versions

¹⁾

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wearable_technology

²⁾

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino

SLQ Wiki workshops:trials:wearables2-v3

Facilitator Preparation