Artronics

Everyone loves pets. But they come with a lot of responsibilities. So why not make a pet for yourself or gift it to a friend. Of course, it wont replace the real animal but you come a little closer to having one. You can keep it on your shelf or use it as paper weight.

Here, I have made a Pet Tortoise with the help of Clay and embedded some electronics to it. The electronics include a Neon type light effect from below the tortoise. It also includes a touch sensitive switch such that, when you touch the back of the tortoise, the LED's in the eyes glow.

Time required : 6 Hours

Things you will need :

RGB LED x1
General purpose Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
Superbright Green LED x1
3V cell
BC547(npn) x2
Resistor 1k ohm x1
3V cell Holder
Clay or Mseal
Wires
Soldering equipment

>>Here's a video of the finished tortoise<<

#Steps :

To make this Tortoise, I divided the electronics into 2 main parts. One for the Base/Bottom LED's and second for the touch switch. Both get power supply from a single 3V cell which is connected in parallel. The two parts are as explained in below steps.

Block Diagram of the overall circuit :

Step 1 : Making the base

The base part includes two LED's to give the neon effect as shown in the photo. The two LED's are a super bright green LED, and a RGB blinking LED which changes color with time.

The circuit is as shown in the photo below. You can use any other color LED and can connect the circuit as you wish keeping in mind the end result remains the same.

One switch is a normal toggle switch to switch the whole circuit ON/OFF. While the other switch is a DPDT switch used to switch which LED is used Green or RGB. Only one LED will remain ON at a time.

You can add an additional switch to decide to keep the touch switch ON or OFF. Such a configuration makes sure the Cell used lasts for more time.

Circuit for the base

Step 2 : Making the touch switch

As stated in the introduction, the eyes of the tortoise glow when you touch the back of the shell. This is done using a Touch Switch.

The Touch Switch includes 2 BC547 npn transistors which are connected as shown in the circuit. When you touch the base of the 1st transistor the gain increases considerably and current flows through the collector to the emitter.

Keeping the technical stuff aside, solder the components as shown in the circuit diagram. The +3V and GND are connected to the cell. The other two wires which are to be connected to the LED are drawn out and the Touch wires are drawn out. This completes the touch switch used.

Step 3 : Assembling both parts

Assembling the two parts is easy. Just take them and use a little clay to insulate them with the touch module on the top and base module on the bottom. Then cover the whole thing appropriately with clay. Different colors of clay are available, you can use any of your choice. While covering it with clay make sure the touch wires stay out and don't cover the LED's.

Step 4 : Making the Limbs after above steps

Take small amount of clay and make cylindrical rolls and use them to make the front legs. Let them dry and harden and then make the hind legs. Let them harden. Make sure the tortoise stands on all four legs firmly.

Make sure you keep the eye LED and the touch wires outside. Give the tortoise base LED a test run to make sure its working. You can add a tail so that it will look cute.

Step 5 : Making the head

Take small amount of clay and attach to the head. Make the neck little shorter than the head. Refer photos below to understand it better.

Note : While making the head make sure it doesn't stick to the LED or they will give low light.

Step 6 : Making the shell

Take a long piece of clay and shape it in shells shape. Attach the whole shell on the back of the tortoise properly. Use glue if you want so that the shell stays fixed to the back. Take the touch wires that were left out, remove the insulation from them. Make sure they don't break while fixing the shell.

Use a file to shape the shell properly after it hardens.

Step 7 : Checking the model

Now we have almost built the whole thing. Check everything from base LED's to the touch eyes LED. The Green and the RGB LED should be working. The eyes LED should glow when you touch the wires as shown in photos.

Step 8 : Coloring the Tortoise

Final part is coloring the tortoise. Paint as per your wish. I have painted the shell with acrylic light green and the body with dark green. You can also get texture on the shell to make it more attractive.

Bend the touch wires on the shell which were out. Take small amount of clay to attach the other end of the wires to the shell. Do not color on the wire.

Step 9 : Finalizing

Make various Shapes and Sizes using different colors!

Please SHARE if you like it.
Comment if you have any doubts or suggestions to help improve :)

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Simple Lamp

This article explains how to make a Simple Lamp using recyclable materials like a plastic bottle and some electronics. You can use this simple article as a showpiece in festivals like Diwali, Christmas, etc.

Difficulty level : Very Easy

Things you will need :

A used plastic bottle
Small Lamp (3~6V)
Cardboard box
5V battery
Switch
Insulated wire

#Steps:

Step 1 : Take a small cardboard box or make one of appropriate color and size as shown in my previous blog.

Step 2 : Make a small circuit as shown below. Use a simple button switch and connect it in series with the Lamp and a Battery. Fit this assembly in the cardboard box. Use a Lamp holder shown below to fix the lamp firmly in it.

Circuit Diagram

Step 3 : Various types of screw lamps are available on google and local electronics stores for cheap. I hacked it from a old toy projector I had.

Lamp Holder

Step 4 : Make a hole on the top side of the cardboard box and take out the lamp holder assembly through it. Attach the cap of the bottle we are going to use to the base of the holder as shown. It will be used to secure the bottle arrangement firmly.

Step 5 : Make a small rectangular window on the side of the box for the switch as shown. Connect the switch to the circuit internally.

Step 6 : Take a plastic bottle (I used a Mountain Dew bottle as it looks captivating). Cut the bottle in half. Use some part of it to make a small flower as shown.