A new guide in the Adafruit Learning System today: LCARS-inspired Circuit Board Panel by Anne Barela

Making props from your favorite television and film franchises can be very tedious and expensive. There are whole forums dedicated to how others have sourced obscure parts and made replicas for hundreds of dollars.

Take Star Trek. There are beautiful graphics of the LCARS displays on Star Trek: The Next Generation and similar in other programs. These are often realized with two methods: A coated piece of plexiglas with the design and lit from behind, or a dedicated LCD panel. The first is not really touch reactive, the second is expensive to implement and hard to program. How can this be done simply?

Custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) have come down considerably in price. Even adding electronics can be done either by the builder or by some board houses, providing finished products.

This is the third in a series of PCB art builds, ratcheting up the design by adding capacitive touch and LEDs to come up with a Star Trek LCARS-like panel that lights buttons when touched. This is inspired by smaller LCARS panels used to open doors on The Next Generation and other shows.

See this guide now > > >