Banana Keytar - Laser Cut Acrylic, PVC

thingiverse

Laser cut pieces for a Banana Keytar frame were crafted by utilizing a Circuit playground and clipping bananas to the capacitive touch pads, which generated random colors that flashed as notes were played. The laser cutter used was equipped with a 32 x 20 bed. Initially, the plan was to embed a Pi with touchscreen in the large rectangular front hole, but due to unreliability at the hackathon, this was not achieved. A future build will be constructed in my shop and documented for assembly. With Pi as the core component, the process would involve bananas - capacitive touch pads - using the Circuit Playground as a MIDI controller - USB input to Raspberry Pi 3 - mapping pads on an online synth program - Bluetooth sound output to a speaker. How This Was Designed CAD - Corel - Laser The design began with a CAD model of the top panel, which is freely available for modification on Onshape: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/d05c7a8f6e9a6bab922b9b76/w/1d7e83d76073245a1de53ad2/e/3f9dd5e9602a8d73441620d6. This model was then exported as a DXF, opened in Corel, and used our laser plugin to cut the acrylic pieces accurately. Build Information BOM (in progress) 1 20 X 32 Sheet of Acrylic FRAME: 1 10ft length of 3/4" PVC 3 3/4 PVC elbow connectors 1 3/4 PVC T connector 1 3/4 PVC end cap 1 Box (~25) #6 wood screws SHOULDER STRAP: 2 1/4-20 x 1" bolts (or similar) 6 1/4-20 nuts (jam nuts would be best, regular work) 1 guitar strap ELECTRONICS: 1 Circuit Playground 1 Raspberry Pi 3, with SD Card 1 7" Pi touchscreen display, mounted to Pi 3 1 USB data cable 1 10000mAh battery pack with USB cable Bluetooth Speaker or Speaker with 3.5 mm headphone jack and cable Lots of alligator clips MISC: Adhesive wire tie blocks Zip ties Packing (clear) tape Double stick tape (thick, like foam tape or the 3M clear mounting tape) Alternative: Command Strips Synth Information We used the online synth on Websynths.com for its simplicity and ease of use. It's essential to adjust settings on the site, ensuring that the number of pads is set to 8, the lowest MIDI input is 36, and the channel is 10. Design for Disassembly The design was created with disassembly in mind, allowing all parts and tools to fit into carry-on or checked baggage. The PVC frame can be easily disassembled and stored in a roller bag. The flat laser cut sheets were transported on the plane by sandwiching them between foam core, which sat safely at the top of the overhead bins. Initially, the design was intended for cucumbers but switched to bananas due to their availability in bunches and lower cost.