Dactylize build photos

I set up a Google Photo album to track progress on the build. Enjoy as order is made out of chaos.

Dactylize parts list

Here are the items (and approximate costs) needed to reproduce the system I built, assuming you are working in a well-found electronics lab. These parts should be sufficient to produce the piano component and 6 hand assemblies (enough for three people):

• A digital piano. (I used an aging Casio Privia PX-130, which I would value at about $300. The latest of this line of instruments, the PX-160, goes for about $500 new.)
• Arduino Micro Pro equivalent. (Clones like those from Osoyoo can be had for about $9.) Any Arduino should do the job.
• Two 74HC165 8-bit input shift register integrated circuit chips. Cost: $5.
• Eleven 74HC595 8-bit output shift register integrated circuit chips like these. Cost: $10.
• Eighteen carbon film 10k Ohm 1/4 watt resistors. Cost: $2.
• 2 monolithic 0.1 uF 100 Volt capacitors. Cost: $1.
• Through-hole protoboard for input shift register (finger) circuit. I used one of these. Cost: $5.
• Large solderable breadboard like this for the output shift register (key) circuit. Cost: $12.
• Four 40-position male header pins to be cut to various lengths (including eleven 8-pins for key inputs and four 4-pins for finger inputs, plus miscellaneous others). Cost $2.
• Roll of 2-inch aluminum duct-work tape. Cost: $5.
• Roll of 1-inch copper foil tape for black keys (optional). Cost: $15.
• 88 12-inch male-female stranded jumper wires with 0.1 inch pre-crimped terminals. Sold in bags of 50. Cost: $36.
• 32 36-inch female-female stranded jumper wires with 0.1 inch pre-crimped terminals. Sold in bags of 20. Cost: $36.
• 86 (56 for keys + 30 for hand assemblies) 6-inch male-female stranded jumper wires with 0.1 inch pre-crimped terminals. Sold in bags of 50. Cost: $20.
• 45 (11 + 4+4 + 7+7 + 12) 1x8-pin crimp connector housings. Add 2 such housings for each hand assembly you wish to, well, assemble. Get 5 bags of 10 to be safe. Cost: $5.
• 12 1x4-pin crimp connector housings. Cost: $2.
• 12 1x1-pin crimp connector housings. Cost: $1.
• 25 feet of TechFlex Flexo braided cable sleeve (optional). Cost: $10.
• Two 10-foot 16-conductor ribbon cables (or about 16 feet of the stuff). Cost: $10.
• 10-foot 10-connector ribbon cable. Cost: $5.
• 14 16-position right-angle female cable-mounted IDC connectors. Cost: $6.
• Six-inch cable zip ties, pack of 100. Cost: $2.
• Adhesive cable tie bases, pack of 100. Cost: $10.
• 40 latex finger cots. Cost $3.
• Three ounces DAP Wedgwood contact cement. Cost: $9.
• Graphite lubricant. Cost: $6.
• 6-foot USB-to-micro-USB cable. Cost: $8.
• 6-foot USB 2.0 A-male-to-B-male cable (or equivalent MIDI cabling for your digital piano). Cost: $5.

The total cost for materials is $271 plus the cost of the piano, which you should be able to restore to its original playing condition when finished with your Dactylize system.

If you are starting completely from scratch, as I was, you will need the following essentials.

• Multi-colored solid hook-up wire. Cost: $18.
• Soldering iron. I strongly recommend the Hakko FX-888D soldering station. My experiences as a novice with cheap irons were extremely unpleasant. Cost: $100.
• Solder. $10.
• Solder wick. $7.
• Solder sucker. $5.
• Wire strippers. $11.
• Needle-nose pliers.
• Small wire cutters.
• Auto-ranging digital multi-meter that beeps for connectivity testing. The Innova 3320 seems to be the cheapest option that ticks all of the boxes. $26.
• Safety glasses.
• Flat wooden board to work on.
• Electrical tape.
• Ice packs for burns.

Also recommended:

• Helping hands with magnifying glass. Cost: $7.
• Circuit board holder. $13.