Arduino Touch Lamp Circuit

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Hi Guys,
I’m new to arduino and I’m supporting some kids who are exploring them. We want to make a touch lamp-style circuit which will connect to three large pieces of checkerplate aluminium cut into particular shapes. They’ll be free-standing and be approx. 800mm high, resting on wood stands.

I was looking at https://core-electronics.com.au/adafruit-12-key-capacitive-touch-sensor-breakout-mpr121.html to power this project.

We then want it to play an audio file when touched. Do we need to build an amplifier circuit or is there something pre-made already that will suit?

Could someone advise me if I’m in the right ballpark with this idea?

Thanks,

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Hi Troy,

Cool project! Off the top of my head, something like the Bare Conductive Touch Board would be the easiest turn-key solution:

If you specifically wanted to DIY it with an Arduino, something like the Wave Shield:

And a capacitive touch breakout like the one you found, would be the way to go.

Let me know if you have any questions about the above options, and we can go more in-depth :slight_smile:
-James

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Hi Troy,

Welcome to the forum!

Just a note about using capacitive touch sensors, you are more or less using the metallic part of the aluminum as one plate of the capacitor with a larger area you drive the capacitance higher and make a less responsive system. to get around this you could lay some wire or another thin conductor over the top or embed it (be sure not to put it behind something metal!).

The best way to confirm that something would work is to go for it!
Liam