/ / INTRODUCTION
Parts
- Toy piano (batteries included)
- T-shirt
- conductive fabric
- conductive thread
- normal thread
- neoprene
- fusible interface (iron on)
- wires
- snaps
/ / Taking it apart
- Open the toy piano:
Remove all the screws. You can leave the battery screw in place.
- Remove the pink piece
- Lift the speaker out carefully
- If you removed the batteries, put them back in the piano.
- Cut and strip three wires
- Attach the wires here:
- Experiment with connections
You should find you have- 23 keys using 11 microcontroller connections (different combinations of the first 3 and the last 8)
- No on/off power switch
- Two connections that go to loudspeaker
- 23 keys using 11 microcontroller connections (different combinations of the first 3 and the last 8)
- You can cut the circuit board down between buttons 15 and 16
Create a line between the buttons using a straight edge and a sharpie:
- Give your board to a counselor to cut:
- Collect your eight wires. You might not be able to solder all 8, but at least you'll have them ready
- Use an xacto knife to gently scrape the green away from the copper traces. You want to stagger where you scrape
- Apply some flux to the board.
- Tin your traces and tin the stripped wires
- Solder the leads onto your board
- When completed, cover with hot glue
/ / Making the battery pack
- Gather the parts:
- Lay out the batteries and sew on wire connections for power and ground
- Sew the side without wires:
- Attach the top part that is connected to wires:
- Test with LED
/ / Attaching to t-shirt
- Attach with solder, the larger (top) part of snaps to positive and ground leads of the battery holder
Attach with solder, the smaller (bottom) part of snaps to positive and ground leads of the hacked piano circuit - Attach the power snaps together and test your leads
- Cut your three leads so that they stagger in length, then solder the top parts of snaps onto them
- Cut down your other leads
- Solder on the tops of more snaps
- Bend the wires so you get an interesting design:
- With a fabric market, mark where you should sew on the bottom parts of the snaps
- With regular thread, sew on the bottom parts of the snaps
- Tie the end of the thread into a knot.
- Insert the needle up through the back side of the fabric into one of the four holes around the edge of the snap fastener. Insert the needle back through the fabric to take a stitch over the snap fastener. Take at least four more stitches to tack the snap fastener at this hole.
- Tie a knot on the inside of the t-shirt.
- Tie the end of the thread into a knot.
- Attach the snaps and test the sounds.
- Iron on strips of conductive fabric
- Find the conductive thread
- Using conductive thread, attach the strips to the snap.
- Measure a piece of neoprene to cover the strips
- Mark where the holes should be
- Cut out the holes
- Cover holes with conductive fabric. Fabric side facing the holes.
- Connect the snaps to the fabric over the holes with condictive fabric. Glue side down
- Continue with each snap
- Remove the paper backings
- Cover with another piece of neoprene
- Iron the neoprene, then use strait pins to keep it in place.
- Sew neoprene to t-shirt
- Find the conductive thread
- Sew snaps to fabric strips with conductive thread
- Connect the circuit to the snaps
- Make a pocket for the battery pack
- If you want, cover circuit with neoprene
