Hi,
As the subject states, I’m trying to get a sound system for a Chewbacca costume.
I have had this suggested to me:
… but I have a couple of considerations…
Ideally, I need the speaker to fit inside one of the bigger boxes on chewbaccas bandolier belt. I can fit it all inside his bag, but I’d really like the sounds coming from near his mouth. I don’t have my costume readily available so I cant give you accurate dimensions of the sizes of the inside of his bandolier boxes, but I am attempting to do so.
I also want a wireless trigger glove to avoid having to string wires through the costume or along my arm.
Can anyone offer some suggestions for a recommended setup for this project? Thanks in advance!
2 Likes
Fun project! 
I like that Adafruit Audio FX suggestion.
We would just need to know the dimensions of the box to make sure we can fit a wireless receiver in there for your remote trigger.
go small
Alternatively, this tiny board already has WiFi and Bluetooth on board so you have easy wireless options. 
And I think it’s compatible with this Audio board 
And this speaker 
That should all, boards included, fit in… basically anything.
I’m not sure how much volume you need or if this amp and speaker would be enough.
more info please
Dimensions would be great, and maybe also what volumes you expect.
How is your programming skills? Would you feel confident working in C++ and digging through the libraries?
Cool Project! Keep us updated
Pix 
3 Likes
Hi, apologies for not getting back to you faster…
I’m still working on getting to the costume to get the internal box dimensions.
As for my programming skills… well, theyre as good as my skills with electronics… they dont exist… at all…
I’m great at building costumes, models, sculpting etc, but totally useless at things that will help with making a sound system.
As for the choice of components for the setup, I really cant give an opinion on which is better, I dont have the knowledge base, although I will say that more volume is better, especially in the environment of a convention, where the costume is worn.
I have a pack of mp3 sound files, theres 5 of them.
My costume is actually totally finished and in storage because of my personal situation, which is why dont have easy access to the Bandolier.
2 Likes
Hiya Mark
No worries at all.
No rush, just get them when you can. Hard to make recommendation until we know is all 
in the beggining
Ah good on you for jumping in and having a go anyway. That’s awesome! 
I think this is a compelling argument for using the Adafruit Audio FX Board.
Look super user friendly.
What I suggested will have steeper and more immediate learning curve.
I don’t know of any beginner level wireless trigger solutions but maybe someone else will chime in with a suggestion. If not, we might have to look for some guides that have minimal code requirements.
big sound for a big wookie
Oh cool! I’ve seen those cosplay style conventions on youtube. They look fun.
Are you predicting busy crowds? Big groups of people can get loud, circa 80-88db.
The Adafruit board you linked doesn’t seem to have an incorporated amplifier.
I think you should consider incorporating an amplifier to sell the effect. Chewy is a hefty lad, you want a hefty voice.
This Audio Amp below has 2.5W of power which I calculate should get you 25-30db over.
That might total (depending on other factors too nerdy for right now) 75db which is maybe perfect.
This board below looks very similar to the one you linked but this one has two 2.5 amplifiers built in.
That means less soldering which you might appreciate.
Two speakers might be a little too much but you could always sum the channels together and pass it to one speaker. (just make sure your audio is mono. this avoids something called de-constructive interference which you don’t need to understand beyond “ew yucky”).
A quick thought.
I know we just talked about the importance of dimensions. However, given that you’re unfamiliar with wearable electronics, and since you have a talent costume design, maybe the solution is to make the costume fit the electronics rather than the other way around.
i.e. Just buy electronics you like the look of and think can make work. You can worry about how to incorporate them into the costume later.
I’m not saying this the best, just something to consider. Electronics is NOT beyond you and there is plenty of support here if you want to dive head first.
Pix
1 Like
I totally understand what you mean, but to have your costume approved (yes, theres a rigorous approval process), it must be screen accurate, which means I’m unable to alter thee box dimensions.
I could put all the electronics in the bag by my hip as a last resort, but the sound coming from near my waist would destroy the illusion to a certain extent.
Thats lucky, because “eww yucky” is about my level of comprehension.
I’ll try and get those dimensions today…
Mark.
2 Likes
You could use Bluetooth to get the sound from the bag to the mouth if there is enough room in that area for a few small components.
Your phone can sit in the bag and pair with the Bluetooth audio device to play the audio files.
If you can’t configure the phone to play files on request (surely there’s an app for that 
) then it is possible to construct a Bluetooth audio transmitter, but that’s starting to get complicated.
1 Like
I got the dimensions…yay !!
The large boxes are 70mm x 50mm x 25mm internally. The smaller ones are just too small to be useful.
Obviously, the components can be separated into a couple or several boxes and wired together if necessary.
Mark.
1 Like
Heaps of space!
Any of the above components will fit in there including cables.
What material are the boxes made from?
If they’re metal they might be conductive and you could short circuit some electronics (that’s bad 
).
The boxes are coreflute board covered in a self adhesive layer of very thin aluminium sheet.
1 Like
To clarify is it the outside if the box that’s coated in aluminium?
Thats correct. The outside of the box in aluminium sheet, the inside in raw coreflute board.
Thatll be fine. To secure the components use hot glue or plastic screws to ensure the elctronics stay isolated.
Can the components have a piece of velcro attached to the backs for fitting to the box insides ?
Uhhh. I dont know ive never tested that …
I dont see why not… but ive never seen anyone do it before.
I’m thinking using hot glue to adhere the part directly to the box versus to the velcro would make no difference …
The parts could be attached to the inside of the boxes with double-sided foam tape. Velcro also works well. The items near the throat could be in pouches sewn into the costume at the back of the neck, connected by leads run across the lining and held down with tape.
2 Likes
The hot glue might also attack the board material. Don’t know, haven’t had occasion to try.
Cheers Bob
1 Like
That would be a better solution. I’m going to go that way. Thank you.
1 Like
The hot glue and coreflute combination works well. I’ve done it in prototyping many times. The glue doesnt stay hot long enough to damage the board.
1 Like
Wasn’t thinking much about heat. More the chemicals in the glue.
Any glue needs to attack the surface of the material being repaired or it won’t work.
A classic example is spectacle frames. These are generally impervious to most things like petroleum products, acids, oils etc so they ate almost impossible to stick together with anything I know of anyway. I once had a vice base which was like that. Noting would touch it. That included any glue substance I could find when I cracked it.
By the way, all this was explained to me by the Industrial Chemist at my workplace when I approached him about repairing my vice.
Cheers Bob
2 Likes
