Busy hands | Disquiet mind

Music From Outer Space Noise Toaster

2023-07-15T18:35:18Z

I made up the SynthCube MFOS Noise Toaster kit! (You can blame LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER.) The project page should be this project link but it seems to be down a lot, so here's a WayBackMachine cache.

This is not a beginners project. There is a lot of assumed knowledge. There is a book, to help fill in some of the background, but electronics and enclosures familiarity is still assumed. As well as plenty of tools at hand. It's also not a quick win, there are a few days of slog involved for the uninitiated. But, with determination it is still very approachable!

The first thing you need to know is that the project page and the book provide different views, and some different information, so I found I needed to use both. But they don't always agree. I'll flag the bits I found under-explained and/or confusing.

Also, the website details some modifications, but the kit does not come with the parts for them. (Though they do look cool, I might try them in future.)

( Build notes )

Finished Music from Outer Space Noise Toaster, toaster style
Photo by chebe

But what kind of noise does it make? It's an analog synth. With mono output. (But the only way I have to transmit a recording to you is digital.) The only reliable sound I can manage is wind, gusty, on an open, desolate plain. But I tried flicking switches and twirling knobs as well to give you an idea of the possibilities. Here you go, feel free to jump around through it, it's not a tune or anything.

Recording of some of the sounds possible with the Noise Toaster
Video by chebe

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LilyPad Arduino very open Watch

2021-01-08T18:51:38Z

I made a watch. Because of course I did. Same wrist-strap and general idea as the LilyPad and Protoboard Wrist Controller. But the protoboard is populated with a Real Time Clock (RTC) module, and four-digit seven-segment display.

I'm using the SparkFun DeadOn RTC module. I got it for another project and just happened to have it laying around. You can get others that use fewer pins though, like I used in the clock. (DeadOn RTC setup guide). Downsides include not being able to find the right sized battery. (I had to go to Belgium for it, and it still hasn't arrived.) Upsides include the module having two alarms. One to the second, the other to the minute.

If I have alarms I'm going to need an alert, so throw in a LilyPad Buzzer (as in speaker) (Buzzer setup guide), and a SPDT slide switch to put it into silent mode. And if it's on silent I'm going to want a vibrate option, so add a LilyPad Vibe Board. This is the Vibe Board setup guide, but I'm doing things a bit differently. I'm not using a MOSFET, and I connected - to GND, and + to PWM pin 6. It works just fine.

To see the time I'll need a nice display like Adafruit 4-Digit 7-Segment Display with I2C Backpack (Display Backpack library setup), and a nice Metal Ball Tactile Button to turn it on and off.

Then I just have to figure out how to connect everything together, and program it.

( Details )

Then just turn everything on! There is quite a lot you can do with this kind of completely hackable setup. As it is you can use the alerts to train yourself to have a better understanding of time. Just by having it vibrate on the hour every hour. You could make it a countdown timer so you can remind yourself to stop talking. Or any arbitrary period to remind yourself to take breaks. You could use some of the empty pins and add a motion sensor. Then you can keep track of your activity and if you don't move around enough each hour you can alert yourself. You can tailor everything to yourself exactly. But, as a reminder, do not get this wet. If you really want to use this as an activity tracker you'd be better off minimising it and adding a skin-safe water/sweat-proof enclosure. But for general time related body hacking this is a decent start.

LilyPad watch assembled and operational
Photo by chebe

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Time Cuboid

2020-04-27T19:55:42Z

I find myself, like many of us, sitting at my desk a lot. I sit there for work. I sit there again for the many video and/or voice socials that have been set up. I sit there to play games or watch films. I even clear off the computer stuff and sit there to solder and work on projects. I am, in fact, sitting there now as I write this. So basically, I sit there a lot. And it got so that I found it difficult to know what time it was, whether early or late, start of the day, or end. I know, I thought, possibly aloud, no-one will ever know, I need a clock.

But I didn't want to go buying lots of unnecessary things, or wait until my usual suppliers were back in full swing. So I dug around in the piles of boxes that comprise my electronics stash. Back at GaelHack (seven years ago) I started on a clock, but it never left the breadboard. I dusted that off, and found most of what else I needed.

( Making it all fit together )

Given the purpose of the device, and age of most of the components, I had half a mind to refer to this as a Time Capsule, but Time Cuboid seems more self-explanatory.
Overall it looks something like this;

Time Cuboid, on
Photo by chebe

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Adafruit NeoPixel Goggles Kit enhancement

2019-10-15T21:51:46Z

Get yourself one of the Adafruit NeoPixel Goggle kits, and make it up following their excellent instructions.

Adafruit NeoPixel Goggle kit made up
Photo by chebe

( Enhancements )

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