Spark Fun Electronics will be carrying silicone illuminated buttons based on the Monome design in 1-2 months. 4x4 arrays that will cost between $20 and $30 U.S… !!! Here’s a copy of the email I received:
"…We are having the tooling made and should have the first units in 4-6
weeks. We are getting a 4x4 button array with 5mm holes for our
tri-color LEDs. The retail price will be in the 20-$30 range but the 16
button pad has been designed so that you can cut it up to 2x2s easily.
We are also working on a PCB and plastic frame.
Thanks for the inquiry! We are excited to be carrying the pads soon.
The monome website says that each button face is .75"x.75" (19.05mm sq)… Not that they would definitely use those dimensions, but I know that development was helped by the monome guys.
I dunno, Honestly, I was looking at individual lighted buttons that cost anywhere from $7 to $30US. So one to two dollars a piece seems more than reasonable to me.
The datasheet is a little vague on the size/placement of the conductive silicone, also dimensions are not given for LED pill (I think it’s called a pill… but regardless, I’m refering to the space in the button made for the LED). All the same, I have drafted it up in Autodesk Inventor as an .IPT file if anyone wants it.
The bad news: Right now it will be offered as the silicone buttons only. No PCB yet. No enclosure. Having said that: the buttons act the same way as membrane switches; actuating conductor with contacts- so creating your own PCBs won’t be that hard. Of course, with the LEDs it will require either a double-sided PCB or two PCBs stacked with through-holes…
If any of you do want the .IPT file, I’d be happy to e-mail it to you, but: please excuse me, I’m making the transition from Autocad to Inventor, so the conventions I use may be a little different from what you’re used to, especially since I learned architectural drafting and not mechanical- and I ad-libbed the above said vagueries: Pill dimensions (which I know are large enough for a 5mm LED) and Conductive Silicone dimensions. Hopefully by next week I’ll have appropriate eagle files with contacts, LEDs, diodes, and header…
Making our own PCB’s really won’t be that big a deal. I need to present a bunch of board designs to smash pretty soon and I’ll add one of these to the mix.
They are taking care of the hard part. The PCBs are simple in comparison. I suppose this will allow people to choose between a matrix setup and a per-button IO setup…
Making our own PCB’s really won’t be that big a deal. I need to present a bunch of board designs to smash pretty soon and I’ll add one of these to the mix.
… I don’t think the PCBs are as easy as you think. How do you wanna do the carbon plating of the contact surface?
I was thinking: Etch the appropriate traces, and silk-screen on the contacts using conductive epoxy or some other conductive ink… Yeah… I know… Regular copper contacts will corrode, and tin will oxidize- which for home use wouldn’t be a huge deal (pull out your screwdriver and pencil erasers.). Surely I’ve poured rubbing alcohol down many a crossfader to get it to perform.. But that wouldn’t be acceptable for home use. So… Does anyone know the likelihood of the silver in conductive epoxy tarnishing?
Otherwise: you could use tabs of conductive aluminum tape… Or use the above mentioned conductive epoxy to mount pads of conductive silicone, etc…
I mean, you’re right, it’s more than a 2 step process, and I’m fortunate to have a bit of experience silkscreening, but this is still a lot easier to do (and within the means of someone working out of their basement) than to mold their own buttons…
It looks like the monome just uses plated tracks - looks shiny to me.
I wish I could see a closeup shot of the “intertwined star pattern” they use, perhaps spark fun will do the same on their demo board.
Why be so concerned about oxidation of plated tracks though? I’ve got PCBs that have been sitting in a damp shed for years and their tinned tracks are still perfectly shiny.
Just out of interest: are there enough people who want to make a monome clone (using MIDIbox) that we could get a bulk order happening for an 8x8 button PCB?
Just out of interest: are there enough people who want to make a monome clone (using MIDIbox) that we could get a bulk order happening for an 8x8 button PCB?
Well, if this will be a starting count, then count me in on this!! ;D ;D
Well, if this will be a starting count, then count me in on this!! ;D ;D
thanks..
Corrections, I am on for the buttons only also. But if the overall cost of a monome clone is under $100 with out enclosure, then I’ll go for it too.. ;D
