Finger Triggers

This info could be useful in other projects, so I put it in its own build page.

Materials:

Radio Shack 273-073 Piezo Element
Mouse Pad
Rigid plastic board (e.g., polyethylene -- I used some scraps, left over from my Proton Pack build, that originally were "For Sale" signs from Office Depot)
small (about 1/4" diameter) foam rubber stick-on feet
Silicon adhesive/sealer

Tools:

utility knife
cutting board
tin snips
metal straightedge

Step 1: Cut Mouse Pad

Measure the size of the pads to your liking. I used the width of my ruler as a guide and made my pads square. Mark the lines in pencil on the mouse pad.

With the mouse pad on a hard cutting board, use the metal straightedge as a guide and cut the pad with a utility knife. Try to cut through the pad entirely in a single stroke.

Step 2: Cut the Plastic Squares

Cut plastic squares roughly the same size as the pads you cut in Step 1. They don't have to be exact -- in fact, a little smaller is preferred. I trimmed mine down using tin snips. Another useful technique here is to score the plastic along a straight line using a utility knife, then breaking the square off by bending along the score line.

Step 3: Crack Open the Piezo Element

The piezo element comes housed in a protective plastic case:

We need to set it free from its cold, plastic home. My preferred way to do this is to put it in a vise and squeeze the jaws until the lid pops off:

Be VERY CAREFUL! Wear safety goggles -- the lids sometimes fly across the room. One of these popped straight into my eye; fortunately I *was* wearing safety goggles.

Once you have the case open, gently remove the round piezo element within:

Be careful not to break the wires away from the element.

Step 4: Trim the Piezo Element to Size

Using tin snips, cut away most of the piezo element until just a small amount remains surrounding the soldered-on wires:

The smaller footprint of the modified element means less chance of your finger tapping the element directly. They seem to work better if they pick up vibration from a little distance away.

I assume they aren't as "hot" (don't generate as much voltage when tapped), which means less chance of picking up crosstalk from other nearby triggers.

Step 5: Assemble the "Sandwich"

Using silicon adhesive assemble the trigger in the following order (top to bottom):

Foam pad
Piezo Element
Plastic Square
Foam stick-on feet (3)

For the piezo element, try to keep it on a corner, away from the middle of the pad:

For the stick-on feet, try to keep them away from the piezo element. This minimizes vibration from other triggers reaching the element.

And that's it!

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