Queadlunn- Over the last year and a half I’ve learned a lot about electronics and Arduino and how I can apply it to props and cosplay. Just some simple LEDs in a sci-fi gun, a couple fans in a helmet or making a microcontroller light up some programmable LEDs when I close a switch on a DIY-ed lightsaber can really add to a project.
On basic circuits: If you have a battery (say 2 AA cells) you should be able to find out the cell voltage (for AA cells, it’s 1.5v per cell. This is easily google-able for most batteries) and if you know the voltage you have, you’ll know what kind of parts you can use with them.
For our 2 AA example, that’d mean you could use LEDs rated from 2.8v to 3.5v pretty safely, any more or less and it’ll take extra work and/or parts.
On Arduino/Microcontrollers: These are a lot more complicated than a battery, LED and a switch but can open up a whole world of options. From sequenced LED flashing, accelerometer-based triggers, even sounds. Sites like Arduino and Adafruit have amazing tutorials to get started. Arduino and like controllers are programmed via USB connection (sometimes through an adapter) and use a language that is a variant of C I believe.
You don’t have to be able to code from scratch to be able to use Arduino. I’ve gotten by with using the demo and tutorial code from various sites and modifying it a bit to suit my needs. I’m pretty bad at coding but good tutorials help wonders.
A good Arduino starter kit can be a great way to begin.
Online sources (these are where I buy 95% of my parts):
Adafruit (https://www.adafruit.com/) – An amazing source, my favorite. They have loads of pre-built boards, everything from Arduinos to sensors to power supplies and an entire ‘wearables’ section. Adafruit has amazing tutorials for almost all of their products, this is where I learned the most while I was getting used to working with Arduinos and the like. Their Feather Arduino boards are awesome!
Sparkfun (https://www.sparkfun.com/) – Another great source. A bit more barebones than Adafruit (not as great with tutorials on products) but still a great place. I’ve mainly bought basic components and sensors here.
Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/) – If you know what you want, you can probably find a version of it here, though maybe of a different build than other sources. As always, Amazon Prime is amazing.
Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/) – Like Amazon, if you know specifically what you want you can probably find it here, though with little to no documentation or support. Ebay’s a pretty good place to get lots of basic components like LEDs, wire or pin headers.
nomad-hermit 