This is the Arduino/lightsaber/prop board you are looking for! It all started back in 2013 when we released the DIY Lightsaber Audio Board project. Since then we wanted to integrate that project into a custom little board with everything you need not only to create the most spectacular lightsabers, but also to create any kind of prop that needs audio, motion and light effects.
The result is called PropBoard: a board you can use as a lightsaber sound/light/motion board using our PBSaber firmware, or program it yourself using the Arduino IDE to create amazing props.
On the board there is:
The board supports power supply in two configurations: from 3.7V to 5V and from 5.5V to 12V, switchable by a simple hardware setting (you can power the board from a single or dual 18650 battery cell). The on-board 3.3V and 5V LDO regulators take care of converting the input voltage to the required voltage of the board.
There is also 13 general purpose input/output pins that you can use, for example, to connect additional LEDs, or use them as UART, I2C, SPI, PWM, ADCÂ or external interrupts. There are also pins for GND, 3.3V and 5V output to power external peripherals.
You can program the PropBoard using the Arduino IDE. Download the PropBoard board support package and start developing your props right away! The PropBoard comes pre-programmed with a bootloader that allows you to start downloading sketches right out-of-the-box.
We have some amazing projects for you to try, including our super-powerful PBSaber project, that allows you to use the PropBoard as a lightsaber soundboard, fully configurable, without writing a single line of code.
In case you want to roll your own personalized props, we have developed an extensive but very simple API to interact with every part of the hardware available on the board, including functions for playing WAV files from the SD, driving LEDs, sense motion, plus all you can expect from the classical Arduino API: PWM, ADC, Wire, SPI, IO, etc. All the API functions and examples regarding the PropBoard can be found here.
The API was conceived to be as simple as it gets: play and mix several WAV file by just calling a single function, or start an automatic shimmering effect on the LEDs, asynchronously, leaving room for your sketch to execute.
There are also supporting libraries to ease the inclusion of LED strips (WS2812, APA102 and SK6812RGBW) and momentary buttons as well.
Here are some of the many possibilities you can do with the PropBoard:
Reduced mechanical dimensions (56mm long, 24mm wide) and 3 mounting holes.
| Weight | 0.010 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 56 × 24 × 5.7 mm |
| Programmed with | Just bootloader, PBSaber firmware |
A small board with everything you need to create electronic props. Use it as a lightsaber soundboard or for creating unique costumes and toys.
€64.90
Accepting all credit cards and wire transfers
Secure payments with Stripe and PayPal
Need help? Drop a line in our support forum.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Does this have the ability to drive displays, like LCD screens or touch screens?
Hi,
The chip does not have an LCD controller. As for displays, you can drive some displays like for example: https://www.artekit.eu/doc/guides/propboard-battery-indicator/
Touch controllers are usually driven by I2C, so it would be possible. You have to implement the code for it.
Hi!
Would it be possible to generate a square wave on a pin (like you do on an arduino) but pass that to the audio amp?
This would to be able to create accelerometer controlled 8bit effects separately to the audio player
Hi!
Apart from some weird hardware hack, I would say it is not possible. But it can be done with software: filling a buffer with data for a square wave (or any other waveform, sine, saw, etc.) and output it as any other audio source, inheriting from the AudioSource class: https://github.com/Artekit/propboard-core/blob/master/cores/propboard/AudioSource.h
It is in fact a nice idea for a PropBoard tone library, making it possible to play and mix several tones at once.
Can the Prop Board be programmed to use the accelerometer to control the master volume in real time? For example, holding a toy tie fighter… moving it faster would make the volume louder (engine sound loop), as it slows down, the volume ramps down equally. I read the motion API and I understood the interrupt commands, but it wasn’t clear to me if a continuous reading from the accelerometer could control a function like the volume command.
Hi Bud,
Yes, the accelerometer can be read continuously. With the read values you can then calculate speed and set the volume accordingly. Check the Motion.read (g) section of the Motion API.
Hello, when will more libraries be included to support additional LED strips? I’m very eager to prototype an invention using Neopixel RGB+W LED strips (4 LEDs in each cell). Your prop board is the perfect solution…. if I can somehow get it to support an RGB+W strip. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi. Is the SK6812RGBW LED? We don’t have any around at the moment, so I’d need find a strip and implement it. The timing looks much like the RGB (WS2812B) one, so it should be a matter of extending the current LedStrip library.
Yes, it is the SK6812RGBW LED. Thank you for clarifying. I’m glad to hear it’s very similar and easy to implement. Perhaps, if I get my hands on a strip soon, I could send it your way to help the process. Thank you for your help.
FInally we have released v1.0.3 with support for SK6812RGBW LED strips.
https://www.artekit.eu/doc/guides/propboard-lib-ledstrip/