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[on:]

Me and my son are making a diorama he's going to bring into school and using an Uno and a breadboard. He's got a few LED's and a button connected to the breadboard and whenever we move it some wires pop out. Is there a way people lock these wires into the breadboard and even the Arduino so they don't fall out when traveling? Any ideas would be appreciated.

We do have a soldering gun and are going to use that to spread out the LED"s throughout the project, so maybe there's a use for that.

Thanks

[Reply #1 on:]

Me and my son are making a diorama he's going to bring into school and using an Uno and a breadboard. He's got a few LED's and a button connected to the breadboard and whenever we move it some wires pop out. Is there a way people lock these wires into the breadboard and even the Arduino so they don't fall out when traveling? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Get a baseplate which holds both the Arduino and the breadboard.

eg. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11235

The wires hardly ever come out with one of those.

nb. Your breadboard has to be the right size...

[Reply #2 on:]

You might want to consider a protoshield that has a small through hole prototyping area, and it fits securely in the Arduino pins.  When you want to change projects, you can just remove the shield, and either desolder the components, or leave it for another time.  The shield I own is http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=93, but you probably should consider ordering something similar from within your country for faster shipping.

I don't yet own this shield, but I've thought about getting it from Adafruit.  It has screw terminals so you can connect the wires to the Arduino without soldering if you have external components or haven't finished the design yet: http://www.adafruit.com/products/196

Here is a shield with just the screw terminals: http://ruggedcircuits.com/html/quick_shield.html.

If you don't need the screw terminals, consider getting a prototype shield (if you live in the USA, check your local Radio Shack, they've started carrying Arduino and shields), and soldering the wires to the shield, and you can avoid having to order things and wait for delivery, particularly in this season when the delivery services are flooded with packages.  For example, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13297702.

You could use hot glue or solder to connect the wires to the Arduino, but that is a somewhat drastic method if the plastic melts when you want to take the wires out.

[Reply #3 on:]

I second the protoshield idea. Radio Shack sells a couple of them now, including the
one that M_M referenced. I just used that one on a project myself, and I prefer it
to most others. They give you a nice set of usable parts and headers with it too.

[Reply #4 on:]

Thanks guys. We really appreciate your suggestions!

[Reply #5 on:]

Hot glue?

[Reply #6 on:]

Hot glue?

By hot glue, I meant using a hot glue gun that you often times use in crafting.  Like solder, it can be removed if you reheat the item.  I don't believe it conducts electricity, so you don't have to worry about solder bridges.  For example, http://www.joann.com/surebonder-high-temp-glue-gun/xprd1130300/