I’ve had a change of heart about the design of my final project. I’m now going with a variation of my original idea, and I’m sorry to report that the shoe-synth is no longer going to be the end result of my efforts. I am now making a self-contained, granular synth with amplifier circuit and speaker all built into a project box. I was originally going to port the audio into an external amp, but I figured I could build one using an LM386 audio amplifier chip and some capacitors and resistors. This add-on will probably require a separate power source for the amp, as it is recommended to not power the amp section via the Arduino.
Now I know some of you were excited by the shoe-synth idea, but I hit a wall with several design and construction issues and I’ve decided to continue with the synth-in-a-box. I had problems with component consistency as well as construction stability of the shoes I tried. (My wife almost flipped when she saw me ready to mangle a pair of her shoes.) I’ve also spent way more money on “experimenting” than I had wanted to, and without much to show for it except for what I’ve learned during the process. I feel that this new design will still serve the basic purpose I had intended, though, and all without the erratic behavior of these cheap-o pressure switches. Decent pressure switches run $25 a piece, and I would’ve needed 5…and that’s too expensive for a component. Granted, I have new expenses with the re-design, but I’m certain I’ll be more pleased with the end result, as will the class since they will have the opportunity to play with a box rather than a smelly old shoe. Below are a few shots of the prototyping process. All the new parts/materials should be here mid-week, leaving me with a crazy-hectic weekend ahead.
