Photo courtesy of tkrworks
May 31st, 2009 – On Friday, I asked for more information on the Arduinome (the open source alternative to the Monome) from those who might have built one on the DJ TechTools forum. User tomaguinane tipped me onto the tkrworks PICnome as an alternative.
The Monome is an awesome controller but is a bit expensive for my current budget, and I really like the idea of making my own gear. Enter the Arduinome which promises to be a more cost effective solution for the DIYer. Unfortunately, for a relative electronics newcomer like myself, the lack of step by step instructions is a major barrier. This is perhaps purposeful as the people at Monome don’t want others to just churn out clones and sell them.
The PICnome is another alternative to the Monome, but the main difference is that tkrworks includes the logic board and all the pieces you need to solder to it. You need to buy SparkFun buttons and LED’s, and you still need to make your own enclosure, but it’s a pretty complete and very reasonably priced package. The PICnome kit costs just $65 plus shipping. Most important of all, there are very detailed assembly instructions which makes it much easier for someone like me to put it together.
If anyone from tkrworks reads this, what SparkFun parts need to be ordered to complete a full PICnome?
6 Comments, Comment or Ping
Sebastien Orban
I’m with you on this ! I’m gonna have times to spend on project like this, but not too much money… Going to do some research !
Jun 1st, 2009
Sean
@Sebastien Orban : As far as I can tell, the SparkFun kit that includes both the LED’s (tri-coloured no less) and keypad board already assembled, costs $45 for a 4×4 section. To make a 64 button controller, you’ll need 4 of these, plus the pads which are 10 dollars each. So you’re looking at $230 for those components. Add the tkrworks kit, and you’re at $300 not including shipping and you still need your own enclosure. It’s definitely not a cheap enterprise, but it’s rewarding to make your own. By the time it comes down to it though, if you include your time, it’s probably cheaper to buy a Monome itself than to make your own. But you don’t get the same satisfaction!
Jun 1st, 2009
tomguinane
If you don’t buy it all already assembled and you buy the pcb and the actually buttons seperately then it will reduce the cost alot. I think its around $20 for a 4×4 grid and then you will only need the LEDs and the ribbon cable (i think) and they wont cost you alot atall
Jun 3rd, 2009
Sean
@TomGuinane: That would definitely lower the cost significantly. I was also looking at the actual 40h kit from the Monome folks, and it is $250 for the keypad and logic board kits. That’s actually competitive to the clone kits. The only problem is, of course, that you need to wait for them to release the kits.
Jun 3rd, 2009
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