Making your Xmas Critters

2024-12-19 | By Pimoroni

License: See Original Project LEDs / Discrete / Modules

Guide by Pimoroni

This tutorial will show you how to make a Xmas Critter using the kits we're ‎giving away over this festive period. The materials in the kit are for one critter, ‎so pick your favourite out of the three and let's get started!‎

First, check that you have all of the parts you need.‎

parts_1

We'll start with the copper tape and the card base. Peel off a little bit of the ‎backing on the tape and press the end down on one of the red lines. As you ‎press it down along the lines, peel back more of the backing as you go. This ‎makes sure that the tape doesn't curl up and stick to itself!‎

Start taping

taping_2

At each corner, you can bend the tape (messy) or you can tear it off and start ‎a new piece. If you tear it, make sure that you overlap the tape so that the ‎electricity can flow through it smoothly.‎

Once you have taped all of the red parts, check it against the photo below to ‎make sure you've covered all the parts you need to. If you can still see any ‎red markings, add more copper tape, because we're going to need all the ‎ends to make contact with the other parts of the circuit. It's a good idea to ‎rub down any joins with the back of your nail, or something flat if you don't ‎want to use your nails!

covered_3

Adding the LEDs for eyes

Turn the card over and look for the eyes - this is where we're going to put the ‎lights. You need a pencil and some Blu Tack. Put the Blu Tack behind the ‎critter's eyes and use the pencil to poke a little hole in the middle of each eye. ‎The wires on the LED are going to go through these holes, so it doesn't need ‎to be too big.‎

adding_4

Now, poke the legs of the LED through from the critter side and turn the card ‎back over.

adding_5

Look carefully at the legs of the LED. One leg is longer than the other, and ‎this one should bend up towards the top bit of tape. The shorter one should ‎bend down towards where the little circuit board is going. There's also a flat ‎edge on one side of the LED that can help to get the LED the right way round; ‎this should go at the top edge as shown on the card too.‎

legs_6

You will see that the legs are a bit long and hang over the edges, so carefully ‎fold the legs to fit, or alternatively snip them off with some wire cutters.‎

Add another strip of top along the top line to hold the LEDs down securely.‎

strip_7

The blinky board

Place the blinky board down on the marking for it, making sure that the labels ‎match. LED1 and LED2 should be at the top, with 3V and GND at the bottom. ‎Use more copper tape over each gold contact pad on the board, making sure ‎it joins up to the lines you made earlier. The joins from the pads labelled with ‎LED should hold down the bottom LED legs too.‎

blinky_8

Adding the battery

Now look for the fold lines on the bottom corner. You need to fold the corner ‎towards you. This will be the switch for the battery. Unfold it again and put ‎the battery with the dimpled side down, and the smooth side with the + ‎marking on the top. Fold the corner back over it, and hold it shut with the clip.‎

battery_9

Pressing the little gold button in the middle of the circuit board cycles through ‎the eight different light patterns. Each time you press it, it will change the ‎pattern, until you get back to the start. If you press and hold the gold button, ‎it'll put the board and LEDs to sleep. A short press will wake it back up.‎

Troubleshooting

If your lights aren't lighting up or are a bit flickery, here are a few things to try.‎

Add additional pieces of tape to the LED legs and the four pads on the ‎blinky board.‎
Smooth down the joins on the tape.‎
Check that the LEDs are the right way up. If you look from the critter ‎side, you should see two little flat bits at the top of the LEDs. This is the ‎right way up. If the flat bits are on the bottom, you'll need to turn the ‎LED round.‎
Make sure that you haven't missed any connections with the copper ‎tape. Check the picture below.‎

check_10

Check that you don't have any shorts, for example, the tape connecting ‎the LED legs shouldn't touch across the legs, and the same goes for ‎the bits of tape on the blinky board pads.‎
Depending on how you've bent the legs, they can spring up and come ‎loose from the tape. You can use extra copper tape or some normal ‎sticky tape (make sure it's non-conductive) to hold them down more ‎securely.‎

Alternatives

If you don't want to use a coin cell battery, you can power these with a 3V ‎battery pack. They have two wires usually, a red (positive) and a black ‎‎(negative/ground) one.‎

alter_11

If you tape the black wire to the strip that leads to the GND (ground) pad, and ‎the red wire to the strip that leads to the 3V pad, you should be able to power ‎the critter just like you can with the coin cell battery.‎

Make sure that you use 2x AA batteries, or 2x AAA batteries, and no more ‎than that, or you may damage the circuit board.‎

That's all folks!