HACKADAY MicroKits User manual

Theremin Electronics Kit
MicroKits

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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
Greetings, I’m Micro! Today I’ll be helping you build your own circuit.
We’ll be using these parts (including me!) to build a theremin.
We’re building the circuit in three stages. That way, we can check our work as we go.
Don’t worry about making mistakes, because we can fix them along the way. And once
we’re done, you’ll have a really cool way to experiment with physics and music!
Stage 1: Audio
and Power
Stage 2: Pitch
Control
Stage 3: Volume
Control
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TICK
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Two Resistors
Capacitor
Speaker
A Bunch of Wires
x3
x3
x6
And A Circuit
Building Block
Tick Micro
Two Copper Antennas

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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
The theremin creates music at a distance, without touch.
Moving your hand towards the right antenna increases pitch,
and moving towards the left antenna increases volume.
Your theremin senses capacitance to figure out what note to play. Capacitance is how
easy it is to store energy between objects in an electric field. By moving things (like
your hands) closer to the theremin, you increase capacitance.
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P
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More field lines, more capacitance.
V
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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
The circuit building block holds wires and parts on a
grid. With it, you can make connections without tools.
Each point on the grid has a name. The grid has
rows from 1 to 30 and columns from a to j.
Push the wire or part fully into the correct point.
Examples of correctly placed parts:
This is point H3
The graph to the right shows how different points
are electrically connected inside the building board.
The points act like wires to connect different parts.
Points on the same row of the grid connect
horizontally, but not across the middle.
On each side of the grid are a pair of strips,
marked “+” Positive and “ - ” Negative. These points
connect vertically and will help deliver power to
different parts of the circuit.
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Grid
Power
B24 F28

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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
Stage 1: Audio & Power
□Connect A16 to the “
- ”strip using an orange wire.
□Connect J13 to the “+” strip using an orange wire.
Wires connect sections of the building block together,
so that electrical power and signals can flow to parts.
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Micro can be programmed to do different
things, like being a theremin!
□Place the building board with Row 1 on top.
□Find me, Micro. I have 8 metal legs, called pins.
Place the pins in rows 13 to 16 and column E & F.
Make sure I lay flat on the block, and make sure
my eyes point down. Direction matters!
MICRO

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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
□Connect B14 to B22 with a gray wire.
□Connect J22 to the “+” strip using an orange wire.
□The speaker has two pins. Place the pins on row
22, in columns E & F (either direction will work).
□Place the capacitor between the “+”strip and
the “ - ”strip in the location shown.
□Connect the “
- ”strip on the left to “ - ”on the
right using a long blue wire.
□Connect the “+”strip on the left to “+”on the
right using a long red wire.
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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
□Find the switch on the battery pack. For now, make sure it is set to “OFF”.
□Open the battery holder and install three new AA batteries. Check the battery
holder to see the correct way to place the batteries.
□The battery pack has two wires. Plug the red wire into the “+”strip and the black
wire into the “ - ”strip, as shown. Direction matters!
□Double check your progress to make sure everything is connected correctly:
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□No loose wires or parts
□Parts are in the correct spot
□Battery plugged in correctly
□Micro facing correct direction
OFF - ON
Black to “
-
”
Switch
Red to
“+”

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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
Important: Turn the power “OFF” immediately if the circuit does not
work. Leaving power on could damage or overheat the battery or Micro.
When you’re ready, turn the power “ON”. What happens? You’ll know your circuit is
working when the you hear a tone! This means that power and speakers work.
If nothing happens, don’t worry! Just turn the power “OFF” and check for mistakes,
a process called troubleshooting. With a bit of looking you’ll find what to fix.
♪
!
Let’s think about what’s going on. Right now, I’m connected to a
speaker, a battery, and a capacitor. The battery gives me power, and
the capacitor stores extra energy for when I need it most.
With this power, I create an electrical signal that I send to the speaker. When the
signal changes, the magnet inside the speaker moves. This creates sound that you can
hear. I’m only playing a single note now, so let’s add parts to build a real theremin!
MICRO
OFF - ON
Power
Signal
131 Hz
5V
TICK
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♪
♫
♫
♪
♪
TICK
MICRO
♪
♫
♫
♪
♪

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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
□Turn power “OFF” while building the circuit.
□Place Tick in rows 1 to 7 and column E & F, with
eyes pointed down. Direction matters!
□Connect A7 to the “
- ” strip with an orange wire.
□Connect J1 to the “+”strip with an orange wire.
□Connect J5 to the “+”strip with an orange wire.
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Stage 2: Pitch Control
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□Connect G3 to G7 with a yellow wire.
□Connect H6 to H14 with a gray wire.
□Find the resistor with the following bands: Yellow
Purple Orange. Place it in I3 and I6 (either
direction will work).
The colors show the value of the resistor.
This one is 47,000 Ohms.
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Sample ©2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
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□Place one of the two long copper wires in J3.
The wire should stick straight up and away from
the board, but other than that you can bend
it however you want. This will act as our pitch
antenna.
This antenna is a
big capacitor!
Give your circuit one more check, and when you’re ready, turn
it “ON”! What happens when you reach toward the antenna? If
nothing changes and the note stays constant, turn “OFF” the power
and troubleshoot like before.
If the pitch increases as you approach, congratulations! Your theremin is working. You
can now create three octaves worth of notes just by waving your hand.
We’re not done yet, though. We still need to add the volume antenna to create a fully
functional theremin.
But before we do that, let’s learn a bit more about the circuit we just built!