Children with autism have interests that seem unusual from the outside, but for them everything is absolutely serious. And ordinary children sometimes do not like toys for their too bright, multi-colored, "children's", "toy" look, preferring to play, for example, with old watches, plastic boxes, etc. Son of the author of Instructables under the nickname haikuordie shows an increased interest in various signs. Wherever a child sees signs, for example, exit, he seeks to touch them. Admit it, have you never had the same desire, and not only in childhood? Not without reason, when the Moscow Metro began selling various decommissioned signs, steady demand for them immediately appeared.
But the signs usually hang too high, so the master made a toy exit sign for his son. To kid homemade I liked it, but recently he asked for another one, with a yellow flashing arrow - this is exactly such an indicator of the direction of evacuation he sees every day on the way to school. The master took the metal box from Altoids candies as the basis for the design. Friends often use such boxes as cases in those countries where the products of this brand are sold. However, lollipops in metal boxes under other brands can be found on sale almost all over the world. The wizard starts by searching the network for a suitable image with an arrow, scaling the image to fit the box size and printing it:
Then the master paints the box so that a multi-colored picture is not visible (see the first paragraph, why), after which it transfers the image of the arrow to the metal surface using carbon paper:
According to the transferred contour, the master accurately cuts a hole in the form of an arrow with a dremel. Then it removes the burrs so that the child does not get hurt, for example, a file is suitable for this. Finally, it re-paints the edges of the hole.
According to the classical scheme:
It collects a symmetric multivibrator, it turns out like this (here the finished board is shown along with the power switch):
A battery compartment 4xAAA is attached to the opposite side of the box from the lollipops with fixing the lid with a self-tapping screw - this is a mandatory requirement for battery compartments of toys today. A multivibrator works by reducing the supply voltage to 4 V, that is, to 1 V per cell.
One of the LEDs connected to the multivibrator is located directly on the board by the master, while the other is remote. It glues the board and the LED so that there is a gap between them and the box wall, excluding short circuit. Seals a figured hole in the form of an arrow with a film. Since the LEDs are white, and the evacuation direction indicator that the child sees every day flashes orange, the master paints the film. And installs a power switch on the side.
Closes the case:
Tries to turn it on - everything works:
If you want to cut out a more complex pattern on the metal surface - at least a stencil with the word "exit" - the dremel is hardly suitable, since this is too thin a job that can be accidentally ruined by cutting just too long a line. In this case, etching or gluing a simple rectangular hole with a film on which the desired inscription is printed on a laser printer or accurately written with a permanent marker is better suited. In this case, one more film should be put under it - matte, so that all letters are highlighted uniformly, and make the toy pointer non-blinking, since real exit indicators usually glow continuously. And, for example, on a toy house or an architectural model, you can place miniature copies of the signs "powder - go away" and "automatic off", which are placed on objects equipped with automatic fire extinguishing systems. Just keep proportions — don't make the characters too small or too large in relation to the scale of the layout.