Introduction: DIY FSR Sandwich
About: We are two students at ITP.
How to build your own tasty force sensor sandwich in three easy steps. These 1"x1" FSRs are part of the bed_data project at ITP.
If your project needs to use many FSRs, making your own surely reduces the cost of your project.
What you'll need:
Materials
Copper PCB ($7ish from radioshack)
Conductive foam ($7+shipping from altex. $13 total)
Wires
Gaffers tape
Tools
Scissors/Shears/Wire cutters
Soldering kit
If your project needs to use many FSRs, making your own surely reduces the cost of your project.
What you'll need:
Materials
Copper PCB ($7ish from radioshack)
Conductive foam ($7+shipping from altex. $13 total)
Wires
Gaffers tape
Tools
Scissors/Shears/Wire cutters
Soldering kit
Step 1: Cutting
We made 1"x1" squares from the conductive foam and copper board.
A manual shear was used to cut the copper squares and regular pair of scissors for the foam.
A manual shear was used to cut the copper squares and regular pair of scissors for the foam.
Step 2: Soldering
When you are soldering the wire to the copper board make sure you have enough wire to cover at least half of the square. Make sure your wire is long enough.
You need to do this for each piece.
The copper PCB is perfect for an sturdy solder.
You need to do this for each piece.
The copper PCB is perfect for an sturdy solder.
Step 3: Sandwich
We used gaffers tape to secure the board and foam sandwich.
Cut a 2.5" strip and wrap it around, then cut any excess.
And you are done!
Cut a 2.5" strip and wrap it around, then cut any excess.
And you are done!
Step 4: Done
Now you can make hundreds and you should be able to read analog sensor values with your favorite micro-controller.