How to Create a Mini Piano Using Tinkercad (Step by Step)

by 653422 in Circuits > Electronics

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How to Create a Mini Piano Using Tinkercad (Step by Step)

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Today I will be showing you how to create a mini piano using tinkercad, with 7 different notes and additional LED's.

Gather the Components

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Arduino: x1

Pushbuttons: x7

Resistors: x17 (7 - 100 Olm | 7 - 1 Killoohms | 3 - 220 Olm)

LED: x7

RGB LED: x1

Piezo: x1

Power Connection

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Now we need to send power to the Breadboard (small), we can do this by connecting the 5v port to the positive pin on the breadboard (small), and connect the GND to the negative pin on the breadboard (the positive and negative pins are located on the bottom of the breadboard).

Adding Resistors, LED'S, and Pushbuttons (to the Breadboard Small)

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We will start to add the components to the breadboard (small), but before we start adding components we need to connect the bottom of the breadboard to the top. This can be done by connecting a wire from the negative pin which is located on the bottom right of the breadboard, to the negative pin on the top right of the breadboard.

Adding LED's

Now we can add the 7 LED's, I placed the first led on (4,g) and kept 2 spaces between each LED. The reason why I placed the LED's in this way is because the LED needs to be between the push button and it will be wired to the positive pin on the breadboard, this will become more clear when we connect the push button and the other resistors.

Adding Pushbuttons

The 7 pushbuttons are added in the center of the breadboard, These are the coordinates for the first pushbutton: Terminal 1a is placed at (2,e), and Terminal 1b is placed at (2,f). After placing the first pushbutton, the rest are all placed horizontally across the center of the breadboard with 1 space in between each one. Each pushbutton has 2 pins at the top (terminal 1b, and terminal 2b) terminal 2b should be below the Cathode of each LED, so that the LED and pushbutton can connect.

Adding Resistors

Now we need to send power to the pushbuttons, we can do this by using resistors. For this step, you will need 7 - 100 ohm resistors. At the top of each pushbutton there are 2 pins (terminal 1b, and terminal 2b), and since (terminal 2b) is connected to the cathode of the LED, we can connect the resistor to (terminal 1b), so that the pushbutton can be given power. The resistor has 2 sides (terminal 1, and terminal 2), terminal 1 should be connected to pin (2,j), and terminal 2 should be on the second negative pin on column 2.


Adding Resistors, and Connecting Positive Power

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Adding Resistors

In this step, we will be sending positive power to the circuit, and connecting it to the LED. Since the Cathode of all the LED's are connected to Terminal 2b on the pushbuttons, we can connect the resistors to the Anode of the LED's.

Adding Resistors

For this step, you will need 7 - 1 Killoohm resistors. Now, all we have to do is drag each resistor under the anode of the LED's, the resistors should be placed in the single pin gaps in between each pushbutton.

Wiring

Now that the resistors are placed, we need to give them power so that they can connect/power the LED's. All you need to do is connect a wire to (terminal 1) of the resistor, and connect the other end of the wire to the positive pin on the breadboard.

Adding the Piezo Buzzer

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Since this is piano (mini) we need a component that can act as a speaker and generate audio that we can hear. There aren't any speakers in tinkercad, but we can use a piezo buzzer to create the sound.

To do this all you need to do is drag a Piezo buzzer near the Aurdino (or wherever it looks neat), and connect the positive pin on the piezo to the GND pin on the Arduino, and connect the negative pin on the piezo to the (-11 pin) on the Aurdino.

Wiring the Breadboard (small) Components

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In this step, we will connect all the LED's directly to the Aurdino. All of the LED's (cathodes) will be connected to one of the input/output connectors. The connections on the Aurdino can be programmed to act as an input/output, it doesn't matter which port is connected to what, I did it in this way so that it looks aesthetically pleasing.

Adding and Wiring the RGB LED

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We are now on the final step of the construction of the circuit, now we need to add the final component of this circuit, which is an RGB LED. In order to create a functioning RGB LED, we need to add a few other components to make it all work/connect.

The parts we will be using are Breadboard (mini), Resistors x3 (220 ohms), and of course, an RGB LED. Place the Breadboard (mini) beside the Breadboard (small), or anywhere else you see fit. Then place the RGB LED on the center of the breadboard, and add the 3 resistors under the red, green, and blue pins on the RGB LED.

We now need to connect the resistors to a source of power, so we will connect terminal 1 of every resistor, to the Aurdino.

This is where you connect each resistor:

Resistor 1 (RED) = 2 on the Aurdino

Resistor 2 (GREEN) = 12 on the Aurdino

Resistor 3 (BLUE) = -3 on the Aurdino

Step 7: Coding

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The last step is to download the code and paste it into tinkercad.

Congratulations the mini piano is now complete!!

Demo Video

This is a video of the mini piano in action!