The final step of this process is to put it all together to make a walking stick come alive.

Find a Cane

 

Find a cane or walking stick you want to modify.

Attachment Port

 

Find a spot on the cane where you want to mount the Circuit Playground Express.

 

Tape on a magnet with double-sided tape.

Faceplate

 

If you'd like to attach something to the front, some small squares of foam tape work well to hold any faceplate on the CPX board.

Magnetize

 

Use another small magnet to make the board easy to attach and remove from the cane.

Conductive Tape

 

Stick copper tape to handle. Wrap it in such as way that it is easy to reach when you're using the cane.

Attach Speaker

 

Two zip ties can hold the speaker and battery to the cane.

When finished, your cane or walking stick should now have a formidable appearance and work to light the path in front of you with its gleaming neopixels. 

Use

With the slide switch in one position, the cane will play the wav file when you touch the copper tape.

Flip the slide switch and the file will play every time the accelerometer on the Circuit Playground Express detects a single tap like when the cane hits the floor.

The Circuit Playground Express also detects double taps! Double might be good for occasional wav file playing (like the pape). Just change the line cpx.detect_taps = 1 to cpx.detect_taps = 2.

Walk with style with your new musical cane!

This guide was first published on Nov 13, 2019. It was last updated on Mar 28, 2024.

This page (Modifying a Cane) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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