So, the 9V battery has a positive wire going to the switch, which then continues to a green LED to indicate power is on. (Also, the box won't close if the switch is flipped up, so you can't forget to turn it off.) I got a dual-pole single-throw toggle switch and covered it with one of those red flip-up switches to protect it from accidental activation. However I wanted a "Master Arm" switch that would engage the 9V battery side as well as the Arduino power source at the same time. The LEDs with switches were pretty straightforward. I covered the box with a few coats of water-based spar urethane, so my son would not peel up the stickers right away! The water-based is good since it can go over painted surfaces and will not yellow, according to the paint store I had to put the decals I made onto a white background though, since the "white part" of the image is just clear, so it would be whatever color is underneath. The other decals were all found in the public domain online and printed on the adhesive transparencies. The labels I used were taken from pre-launch transcripts found here. I printed the labels for each switch on the adhesive transparent sheets and cut them out. The shuttle decal on the top of the box was purchased from Amazon. I also put a strip of weather stripping along the front edge to prevent little fingers getting smashed. I finished it with a couple of spring loaded clasps and a little handle. I spray painted the box top, bottom and surface panel with a metallic spray paint, and the main part of the box with a bright red paint. These were all achieved with drill bits, a jigsaw and/or a Dremel tool. I also put an extra hole in the surface panel (originally the timer was going to be set by a second pot) but I covered that up with a triangular piece of wood with a space shuttle decal on it. I also cut a hole for the potentiometer, and a long vertical hole for the LED bar graph, a hole for the momentary switch, hole for the 4-digit 7-segment display, and finally a 4圆 hole for the image of the space shuttle taking off. On the surface panel I cut out holes for 3 toggle switches, with 3 LEDs in holders above, then above those, 3 LED pusher switches. There might be better ways to close the bottom but this works. The t-nuts are pounded into a small 2x1" scraps of wood that I glued into 2 corners of the box. The bottom is attached with a piano hinge on one side, and machine screws that insert into T-nuts on the other side, so that I can access the circuitry and replace/charge the batteries when needed. The edges are glued with wood glue, and the top and surface panel are screwed down. The box is 12" x 12", about 3-1/4" deep, and the top is about 1-1/4" deep. In retrospect, I would more precisely lay out the holes on the surface panel (where all the switches are mounted) instead of essentially eyeballing it. I used a router to "rabbet" the end pieces to make a more sturdy box. The sides are 1/2 inch ply and the top, bottom and main surface panels are 1/4 inch ply. Recordable greeting card module, I used this one.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |