Touchboard

neopixel ring

Overview

This board is a futuristic piece of technology not only for Fine Art and Fashion students, but also to any one who want to control the sound by touch or sometimes event without it. Touch board was originally designed to work with conductive ink, however you can use many other conductive tools (like conductive thread, copper strips, wires, crocodile clips to be honest anything that conducts electricity). The board has 12 electrodes which can have any conductive material connected to it. To understand how to setup the boards please follow the tutorial below.

The button works fine with 3V and it can go up to 14V, in this case we will use 5V from the Arduino. We also need to wire a ground, which will complete the circuit; it is safer to connect a 10K pull-down resistor between the GND and button. Also in this example we will add a signal form a button to Arduino that will be connected to any of the digital pins. In this case we can measure the on/off signal on the computer.

It can also play music from an SD card just by simply naming the tracks in this order “TRACK000”, “TRACK001” and so on. Each of the tracks from the SD card is link in to one of the electrodes; allowing you to paint a piano and turn your Touch Board into a synthesizer (look at the diagram on the next page). Take advantage of its LiPo battery charger you can make any of your projects mobile. However you will need some way to amplify the audio, using powered speakers or headphones jack.

Touch Board is pre-programmed to work seamlessly with any Arduino board, like a shield. Arduino IDE software contains a pack that allows you program Touch Board, the example below will show you step by step how to setup your touch board with Arduino IDE.

 

Health & safety

  • Ensure you are familiar with all H&S rules that apply to the environment you are working in.
  • Identify where first aid can be found in your work space
  • Keep all components dry and free from liquid spillages
  • To avoid static, make sure your work surface is sufficiently earthed