hack: nut and bolt connectors

Introduction

Sometimes Alligator Clips just don’t cut it! Alligator clips are great for prototyping ideas or building projects at the scale of desktop invention. But, sometimes your imagination goes beyond the length of an alligator clip… even the long ones!

That is when a different way to connect Makey Makey to your invention is required! There are many ways to do it, but the most robust (while still being removable) one that we have found that works well for more finalized projects is to use wire and connect it to the Makey Makey using a small nut and bolt!

This hack is going to guide you through how to create these connections with Makey Makey and give a few tips and tricks on when and how to best use this strategy!

Hack Details

Time: 30 Minutes

Difficulty: intermediate

Adult Supervision: recommended

Tool Requirements: Hand Tools

Modification Warning

This hack could permanently modify your Retro Joystick! Please keep that in mind as you work.

Tools and Materials

We recommend completing this hack under adult supervision. This is considered an “intermediate” hack that requires tools and materials not included in the standard Makey Makey kit. Read this guide carefully as we specify which components and tools to use.

Required Tools

Small philips screwdriver
Wire Strippers
Needle Nose Pliers

Required Materials

5/8" long 4-40 screws (7)
4-40 hex nuts (14)
1/4-20 hex nuts (5)
20 AWG solid core wire

Working with Wire

Before we get started, let’s take a moment to address wire in general! Wires come in different types, gauges and insulation. Here is the run down on the different types of wire and which ones we recommend with Makey Makey!

Types

There are generally two types of wire: Stranded and Solid Core.

Stranded- Stranded wire is a single cable made up of braid of smaller sized wires. Stranded wire is quite common and you find it in solutions where a wire needs to be flexible and moved around. Applications like lamp cords, extension wires, and laptop power adapters are great examples of stranded wire. The downside of stranded wire is that when connecting it to different things the end tends to fray.

Solid Core - Solid core wire is made up of a single solid wire that is still flexible, but tends to hold its shape. Solid core wire is used where flexibility is not needed and will actually hold its shape pretty well, reducing the need to adhere it. We recommend using solid core wire because its connection is easier to deal with for Makey Makey!

Wire Gauge

Wire gauge is the diameter, or thickness of the wire. Usually the thicker the wire, the more current and voltage it can handle without failing (heating up / melting). There are two different standards for gauge American Wire Gauge (AWG) and Standard Wire Gauge (SWG), we will refer to the AWG in this guide.

For Makey Makey project, you do not need large gauge wire at all as the current for a Makey Makey circuit is incredibly small. We recommend 20 AWG wire because that is the perfect diameter to plug into the headers on the back of the Makey Makey as well as easily work with in terms of basic hand tools!

Insulation

The metal wire itself is conductive, but the colored plastic outside sheathing called insulation is not! Most wire comes insulated, some wires are bare!

When working with Makey Makey there is a place and time to use either insulated or non-insulated wire, but most of the time we recommend using insulated wire to give you more control over short circuits and when/how something comes in contact with the wire conductor. You can assume that we are using insulated wire for this guide! It is also good to note that when working with insulated wire it requires some tools to remove the insulation.

Tools

When working with wire there are a few tools that make it easier on you (and the wire). Again, we are assuming that you are working with 20 AWG solid core wire, if you work with larger gauge wire, you may need to up the size of the tools!

Wire Strippers - Wire strippers look like pliers, but they have grooves for different sized wires to strip or remove the insulation from the ends of the wire.

Most wire strippers have a cutting edge to cut the wire to length and remove the need for a separate pair of wire cutters. When looking for the proper wire strippers, the gauge size is usually printed or stamped on the side of the tool next to the groove used for that gauge of wire.

This will pinch just enough to cut through the insulation without cutting the metal wire, allowing you to remove the insulation without damaging the conductor.

Need Nose Pliers - Some wire strippers have a pliers nose, but many do not so we recommend having a pair of needle nose pliers!

These are great for bending wire, holding onto nuts and bolts while tightening them as well as reaching things in small spaces. Again, these do not need to be big / heavy duty for Makey Makey projects. Some needle nose pliers even have a cutting edge for cutting wire as well!

Screwdrivers - The basic screwdrivers are a must for every inventor! A set of a regular (flat blade) and a phillips (cross shape) screwdrivers are great and can usually be found around the house!

For Makey Makey projects and this guide, we recommend a pocket screwdriver! You will be using 4-40 screws, which are pretty small, so a smaller screwdriver is handy and will reduce messing up or stripping the screw out. You can usually find a reversible pocket screwdriver for a few dollars anywhere basic tools are sold!

Connecting Wires to Makey Makey

You are now equipped with the tools, knowhow and materials required to wire up your Makey Makey to longer wires, let’s jump in and get started! We are going to use wire to extend a connection to a Retro Joystick Invention Launchpad kit as an example of how to use wires with Makey Makey. Any other connections should follow this same method, though your switch may be different.

We always recommend prototyping your project with alligator clips first before moving on the using wire to make sure everything works before cutting wires and extending the distance of everything. Be sure you have a working Retro Joystick before moving on to this hack!

We need to do some prep work on our Makey Makey before we start working with the wire. For each connection to the Makey Makey you plan to make, select a 4-40 bolt and nut for each touchpad you plan to connect. For the Retro Joystick, this will be 7 total (5 keys and 2 EARTH connections).

Insert the bolt from the back of the Makey Makey to the front (the nut will go on the front). This will make the connection cleaner and reduce interference with other components on the back of the Makey Makey!

Thread a nut onto the bolt and hand tighten to the surface of the Makey Makey. You want the nut tight, but not so tight that it scratches the Makey Makey surface.

Add a second nut onto the screw and leave some space between the first for you to slide a wire between them. Repeat this process for all 7 bolts as shown!

With all of the nuts and bolts connected to the Makey Makey we will focus on preparing the wires! Cut your first wire to length of 6”, leaving about 1” extra on either end to give you some slack to work with.

On the Makey Makey end use your wire strippers to remove 1/2” of insulation from the wire.

Using the pliers nose of your wire strippers or needle nose pliers bend the exposed wire into a hook that should just barely fit around one of the 4-40 screws.

Pro Tip: If you have an extra 4-40 screw, use it to bend the wire around it!

Hook the wire around the bolt attached to the touchpad between the two nuts and tighten the top nut with a pair of pliers.

For best results, the hook of the wire should go from left to right.

Repeat this process for all 5 connections of UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT as well as one for EARTH. Your Makey Makey should look like the image above before moving on.

The Button Wires

For the wires to go to SPACE that are used for the button on your Retro Joystick you will still need an alligator clip end to connect to the button itself.

Using your wire strippers, cut one alligator clip end off of two different wires and strip the insulation off about 1/2”.

This wire is stranded, so to keep things from fraying, twist the strands together using your finger as tightly as possible, being sure there are no excess wires that could cause a short circuit.

Repeat the process of bending the wire and attaching the stranded wires to the Makey Makey by tightening the nuts down. Again, take care to note any stray wire that may cause issues for you!

The Other End?

You now have a Makey Makey with a lot of wires connected to it. You will need to do some prep work to your controller before you can attach the wires to the controller.

Add a second 1/4-20 nut to the bottom of each of the five bolts that make up the joystick and tighten them until there is enough room to slide a wire between them. For the Jostick you will need to disassemble it to add a second nut to the bottom of the bolt as shown and then reassemble it.

Just like the smaller nuts and bolts at the Makey Makey end of things, bend a hook in the wire that fits around the 1/4” bolt.

Hook each wire from the Makey Makey around its matching component on the Retro Joystick (UP to up, DOWN to down, etc). Be sure that you wire EARTH to the center bolt of the Retro Joystick.

Finally, attach the two alligator clip wires (SPACE and EARTH) to the connections for your button! Test your controller to make sure it works!

Conclusion

If you are looking to build projects that are more durable in their connections or larger than the reach of your alligator clips using wire with nuts and bolts is a great option for you!

Using this method in the Retro Joystick is also a great way to embed the Makey Makey into your Retro Joystick for cleaner and more refined look with only the USB cable sticking out.

Troubleshooting Tips

Keypresses don't work? Check your connections between the nuts / bolts and the wires, something may have come lose!

Still nothing? Make sure the smaller bolt and nuts are tight to the Makey Makey and coming in good contact with the touchpads on the Makey Makey PCB

Nothing! If your Makey Makey seems to be dead, your smaller nuts and bolts might be shorting the Makey Makey out by coming in contact with other components, remove a few and change what gator bite hole you are using.

Show us how YOU hacked or modified your Invention Launchpad creation! Tag #MakeyMakeyLaunchpad and join our global community of inventors.