It's time for a modernized prop blaster! This guide is an overhaul of the Lucio Blaster project from 2017 (The original was a three part guide here, here, and here.) You can also use this as a leaping off point for any prop or cosplay element that requires lights, music, and triggered sound effects.

A lot has changed in three years, and the project has been greatly simplified, thanks to advances in hardware and software! We'll now use the Feather M4 Express running CircuitPython and a Prop-Maker FeatherWing.

Thanks to dual-stream, native .mp3 playback in CircuitPython, we can eliminate the need for multiple pieces of hardware previously required to play music and sound effects at the same time, and the power, amplification, and NeoPixel driving circuits have been similarly simplified.

And speaking of NeoPixels -- the LED animation library makes it astonishingly simpler to create highly awesome lighting effects!

This guide shows how to connect all the electronics you need to make your own Sonic Amplifier, or modify them to any prop need.

A future update will show all of the guts fit into a new 808-themed 3D printed blaster! Download the model files here to make your own.

Here's some demo video of the original version to get a feel for the project:

Parts

Angled shot of a Adafruit Feather M4 Express.
It's what you've been waiting for, the Feather M4 Express featuring ATSAMD51. This Feather is fast like a swift, smart like an owl, strong like a ox-bird (it's half ox,...
$22.95
In Stock
Angled shot of a Adafruit Prop-Maker FeatherWing.
The Adafruit Feather series gives you lots of options for a small, portable, rechargeable microcontroller board. Perfect for fitting into your next prop build! This FeatherWing will...
Out of Stock
Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip with different rainbow and white lights moving around
What is better than smart RGB LEDs? Smart RGB+White LEDs! These NeoPixels now have 4 LEDs in them (red, green, blue and white) for excellent lighting effects. These LED...
Out of Stock
Angled shot of Adafruit Mono 2.5W Class D Audio Amplifier.
This super small mono amplifier is surprisingly powerful - able to deliver up to 2.5 Watts into 4-8 ohm impedance speakers. Inside the miniature chip is a class D controller, able to...
$3.95
In Stock
Angled shot of a Adafruit Quad Side-By-Side FeatherWing Kit with a bonnet connected.
This is the FeatherWing Quad Side-by-Side - a prototyping add-on and more for all Feather boards. This is similar to our
$9.95
In Stock
4 x NeoPixel 1/4 60 Ring
5050 RGBW LED w/ Integrated Drivers
3 x NeoPixel Ring - 16
5050 RGBW LEDs w/ Integrated Drivers
1 x NeoPixel Jewel
7 x 5050 RGBW LED w/ Integrated Drivers
Silicone Cover Stranded-Core Wire - 26AWG in Various Colors
Silicone-sheathing wire is super-flexible and soft, and it's also strong! Able to handle up to 200°C and up to 600V, it will do when PVC covered wire wimps out. We like this...
Out of Stock

This guide was first published on Jul 08, 2020. It was last updated on Mar 15, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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