Using a 4066 IC to Trigger Electronic Toy Momentary Pushbutton Switches #CircuitBending 101

If you’ve ever opened up any electronic toy you’ve likely encountered the area below where any physical pushbutton was located to look something like this:

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Now if you wanted to circuitbend that component and possibly transport it to another device or chassis where the momentary pushbutton is no longer present, you could still trigger the switch with several (many, actually) methods. Some possible solutions include using a digital pin to act as the trigger, or even a 4066 IC which is itself a quad bilateral switch. Here are some sample videos below and full instructions here at little-scale’s blog:


 
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2 Comments

  1. I used 4066s for a similar scheme for a synthesizer in 1985. The key contacts are a similar sensitized carbon/rubber pad onto metal switch fingers type. The keyboard was 5 octaves (61 keys) and this was one of the first MIDI retrofits I know of.

    http://www.oldcrows.net/~syzygy/webdoc/mpx61.html

    Crow
    /**/

  2. Hi Scott/Crow,

    Thanks for chiming in! Sixteen 4066 ICs = nice! And congrats on it still operating all these years later.

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