If you don't know how to solder, we suggest checking out the videos in the link above. They're quite good! Keep them in a window so you can watch and review as you work through the kit.
Resistors are non-polar which means they don't have a direction: you don't have to worry about putting it in 'backwards' because they work the same either way.
Bend the resistor into a staple and slip it onto the top of the Printed Circuit Board. Bend the little leads out so that you can flip over the PCB and the resistor will stay in place.
Solder joints should be smooth and shiny and fill the entire pad, wicking up to the lead. you shouldnt be able to wiggle the wire and have it move in the hole.
You can zoom in by clicking on the photos for a bigger look.
Remember it doesn't matter which way you place each resistor since they are non-polarized. Place them flat against the PCB and bend out the legs.
It should snap into place and sit flat against the circuit board.
You don't need to clip the leads of the button as they are already short.
The socket has a little U in one end. The U should match the U in the silkscreen image printed on the PCB. In this photo the U is on the right.
The socket doesn't have long leads to bend, and it doesn't snap into place nicely. You can tape it to the PCB or if you have sharp fingernails you can sort of bend two corners in and it'll keep in place while you solder.
Solder all 8 of the pins of the socket.
You can also hold one finger against the jack while you solder a single pin.
Once one pin is soldered right you can continue.
Electrolytic capacitors are polarized and must be placed correctly or the circuit will not work. The longer lead is the positive (+) one and must go into the pad marked with a + as shown.
The chip has a small black dot in one corner. This small dot should be positioned towards the U in the socket (if you placed the socket correctly). Make sure that when the PCB is oriented as in the photo on the left, you can see the little black dot on the chip at the lower-left, and the text is 'right side up.'
You may need to squeeze the pins together a little so that they slide into the socket.
When the chip is placed right, it will seat nice and snug into the socket.
(Optional: if you think you would like to re-program your Brain Machine's microcontroller, solder in the 2x3 pin socker into the 6 pins marked "ISP" on the PCB. Be sure to place the short leads into the PCB.)
Now you can do a test! This test will check that what you've done so far worked out well.
Make sure you don't have batteries in the battery holder. Take the battery holder red and black wires and thread them through the holes near the chip that say Battery next to them. make sure the red goes in the hole nearer to the chip with a + (plus/positive) on it and the black wire goes through the hole nearer the chip with a - (minus/negative) Now bend the wires around so that the silver ends go through the solder pads right next to the holes. Don't solder these in! Just have them press-fit there. Click on the photo to the left if you need to see a bigger version of the photo.
Plug the headphones all the way into the jack. Put the headphones on.
Put the two AAA batteries into the holder in the right way. Now press the ON/OFF button - you should hear tones in both ears.
Now that you've done the test, remove the headphones. Take out the batteries and put the battery holder away.
First, use the nippers to notch the orange/yellow pair and tear them apart about 1" (2cm).
Once you have the wires stripped, twist them with your fingertips to keep the wire strands together.
We'll use a 3rd-hand tool to hold the wires steady. Melt a little solder onto the iron tip. Use the soldering iron side to sweep the wire strands while also melting some more solder on. You will see the solder wick into the strands and strengthen the wire.
The good news is that if you power an LED backwards, nothing bad will happen to destroy it (it just won't light up).
For LEDs, the longer lead is positive.
Then tin it just like you did with the wires, so there is some solder on the wire lead.
When both leads of the LED are soldered you can go back and melt more solder over them if they're not solidly connected (but be sure to hold the wire in place as you solder, or it will fall off).
Solder the blue wire to the positive (longer) LED pin and the green wire to the negative (shorter) LED pins.
Place the orange/yellow LED in the left eye and the green/blue LED in the right eye drill hole. Be sure to push the LEDs into the glasses from the front (so they will shine in to your eyes).
Use tape on the opposite side to keep the LEDs in place.
We think hot-glue or epoxy will work best. Superglue may not work, be careful not to glue everything!
If necessary glue on the back (outside) as well - especially if the hole is large enough that the shoulder of the LED goes through.
We're going to stick the batteries on the right-side arm of the glasses to balance out the PCB on the left. Problem is, the wires aren't long enough to reach all the way. So we're going to make wire extenders!
Solder the red wire to the red wire of the battery pack.
Then heat the heatshrink with something hot. You can use a heat-gun, hairdryer, soldering iron (rub gently), or even a lighter as long as you don't catch the whole thing on fire (stay a few inches away).
The heatshrink protects the wires and keeps them from shorting to each other. It also makes the solder joint stronger.
Use tape to attach the red/brown, orange/yellow and blue/green wires to the top edge of the glasses so they run together.
First we will solder the wire harness to the PCB.
Then bend the wires into the silver pads.
You can do a quick test now by putting AAA's into the holder and the headphone into the headphone jack. You should be able to hear the tones when you press the ON/OFF button.
Yellow -> L-
Orange -> L+
Blue -> R+
Green -> R-
Use the same over-under technique to place the wires. This time, don't solder them in yet! We'll do a test to make sure we have the right polarity. Insert AAA batteries and press the buton, you should see both LEDs blink red. If one does not blink, try flipping the wires between the + and - pins in case it's in backwards. If so, just solder in the wires so that they work, don't try to desolder the LED.
Cut the excess leads from the four wires.
Then press the PCB on so that there's enough wire slack for the glasses to fold. (If you like, you may use the included zipties to help secure the PCB to the glasses.)
If you print out this convenient glasses template it will make it easy to cut out the overlays to glue on to the front of your glasses. And, if you used this template to drill the holes in the glasses, the template will also show where to cut holes (for the LEDs) in the overlay.
You can glue the overlay on to the glasses using hot glue, or your adhesive of choice. (Be aware that the overlay will not lie flat on the glasses due to the curvature of the glasses.)
Don't Forget: The Brain Machine works with blinking lights. Be aware that blinking lights are not good for some people, especially those prone to seizures!