Props

The assignment for this was extremely open-ended, which allowed me to pick a project that fit with my interests. I love buttons and switches because they're fun to play with, but any I come across are usually off-limits for anyone who just wants the tactile stimulation of switching things on and off. I wanted to make a box that could be hung on a wall that was simply meant to be played with.

Planning

I first drew out the enclosure I wanted in actual size, with all my ideas for special interactions and with switches, buttons, lights, and other components. Then, when I had my actual components, I labeled which components went where, for easier wiring.

Special interactions are what I call physical components that work like buttons but are handmade. Buttons are very simple in their essence. They break a circuit when wired into it, and when the top is pressed down, conductive plates contact conductive parts in the button housing, completing the circuit. With this process I can make different, more complex interactions for users that work the same way but are more interesting.

Key hole and a special key that connect a circuit when the key is turned

An emergency stop button which breaks the entire circuit when pressed in

A slider that lights up a different light as it moves up and down

A knife switch (lever) that turns the whole circuit when pushed up into metal contacts

Due to time restraints, I had to cut the project size in half. I made the box half the size and used only half of the circuits I had planned to. I also only made one of the special interactions, the access card.

Access Card

The special interaction I chose was a plexiglass card with an embedded piece of metal. The idea was that the card would be the interaction that closed the very first circuit and turned on the whole box, so without it none of the components will work. At first I tried to make the circuit close by connecting the metal card piece to two nails, but the nails had too much resistance and were too stiff. Instead, I wrapped stranded copper wire around a piece of rope, which became bendy but still stiff enough to keep its curved shape. pressed up against the metal card piece on either side, the two ropes completed the circuit.

Enclosure

In order to make the box feel like it was a part of something instead of just a toy, I wanted a logo to put on my box, as if some company in the future had made it. I chose Cobalt Energies for the company name. My brother used an AI art generator called Craiyon to brainstorm ideas for a "Cyberpunk logo of the letter C in the shape of a gear with crisp and clean lines in just black and white" and added a stylized font that completed the logotype. I wanted the logo to invoke feelings of futuristic design, like something you would find on a spaceship or factory, and it needed to be in black and white so it could be engraved on the surface of the enclosure.

The enclosure was, of course, laser cut. I made the box with tabs on Onshape to fit together easily, and designed the box to feel ordered but still packed with controls.

Wiring

The wiring for this project was really difficult and time-consuming, since I had never done anything like this before. Most components came with screw terminals for the wires, but I still had to solder all the circuit parts together, and some wires to the buttons that didn't have screw terminals. I hot glued all the joints to keep things from shorting out on each other.

Final Product

IMG_4037.mov

The final product is something I am really happy with. It all looks like complete product, and everything works like I wanted it to, except maybe the way the yellow emergency light looks. The access card is my favorite part, both because it works well and looks good, and because it opens up a huge window of possibilities for other special interactions. After showing this to other people, I have felt validated in my desire to build a fun light box, since I'm not the only one who find it stimulating and relaxing. The logo helps pull the whole project into a story, as if it was taken off the wall of a time machine or secret futuristic energy facility. The only issue I found with the design was that people often confused the larger LED lights for buttons, and tried to press them.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse