(I'M CONFUSED) Soldering Servos & LEDs To Arduino For Cosplay

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I have a LOT of questions, but I'd appreciate ANY AND ALL help. I'm so lost.

First, some context. I've been using Arduino Uno R3 boards (non-solderable) for all my animatronic projects since 2020. But after many issues with durability, sustainability, and design, I've finally accepted that I need something permanent. The most current example of this issue lies in my wearable cosplay head of Foxy The Pirate from Five Nights At Freddy's 1. I have many pictures and videos of the progress of him on my YouTube channel (see my profile) if you need more of a reference. Anyways, I was able to get 5 of the servos working in December of 2023 and then fast forward to me returning home this summer and they barely function now. Not only was the electrical tape making bonds delicate, but also, none of the servos had any kind of screws holding the servo arms in place, not to mention that the setup was sloppy and random. The best way I can put it is that I kept trying to use miscellaneous scraps of materials until the servos remained in place and functioned decently. So, when I found out that everything was completely malfunctioning this summer, I undid everything (the setup was one breadboard panel, two Arduino Uno R3 boards, and three 9V batteries (one connected to each component). So I've come here to ask for help on choosing a new, proper, and solderable board and accessories, but the problem is, I'm really confused, frustrated, and just want to have one animatronic cosplay whose servos don't disconnect or malfunction every 5 minutes because I'm clearly not using or doing things right. So, I really, really, really would appreciate ALL THE HELP I CAN GET! Here are all my main questions, I really hope someone can provide some clarification!

1.) Which solderable Arduino board do I buy if I want to solder a minimum of 5 (maximum of 7) servo motors to the board? How would you solder two LEDs to this board?

2.) Is that even possible on any one Arduino board? Like, is it possible to solder all 7 servos directly onto the Arduino board? Or, at what (if any) number limit of servos is some external board needed like how the (pin header only, no soldering) Arduino Uno R3 board needs a breadboard for projects containing more than 1 micro servo?

3.) Would a stripped USB cable attached to a power bank (with its stripped end soldered to the Arduino board) supply enough power for 5-7 micro servos and 2 LEDs? Or if a second board (like a breadboard?) is needed, will I need two USB power banks?

4.) (I don't expect this one to be answered, but I'd be really grateful if somebody did) What would the setup/layout and code be for this board and/or its accessories? (Would it be different from an Arduino Uno R3 and a breadboard?) Like, could someone provide an image showing the pin locations, boards, batteries, etc.?

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Sounds like you need are ready to make your own... DroneBotWorkshop does a very good job of showing and telling...

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  • PP3 type ?

  • Always show us a good schematic of your proposed circuit.
    Show us good images of your ‘actual’ wiring.
    Give links to components.

  • Do you know how to solder ?

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Once I have a breadboard and sketch working, I send the circuit off to a PCB fabrication company. It typically costs about $60 for five boards and takes about a week to arrive. I use https://jlcpcb.com/ .

My go-to board now is the Nano Every with pins, it goes into a breadboard and you can easily put it in sockets on a PCB.

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If PP3 means the rectangular 9V ones that have the two metal connections at the top, then yes, those batteries. I can send a photo in a moment of what the entire set-up looked like, thank you again so much. I do not know how to solder yet but I am getting a soldering iron for my birthday (in a week) so I can learn how to do so.

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  • We don’t know what skills you have.

  • Take an hour or two and flip through the posts in this long thread, it might give you some ideas.

  • PP3 batteries are meant for very light loads, never motors.
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Don't learn on your Arduino, get a practice kit and learn on that. If you burn something up it's no great loss. There are kits also for SMT devices but you probably don't need that at this stage.

Besides an iron you'll need some soldering add-ons: flux, solder, etc.

YMMV

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Instead of soldering it might be much easier and just as permanent to use a screw shield.
Screw shields for the Nano cost much less and are much smaller overall. Also, I don't understand why you would strip off the connector from the USB cable to solder it to the arduino: it's really not likely to be noticeably more reliable.

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I really like this suggestion!!! If you have any other information about how this works and what boards/components I'd need for this type of setup, etc, please do share! Thank you so much, this seems worth researching.

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You literally buy one of these boards, either for the Nano, or the Uno and you plug the arduino into it (if you are using the Nano, then you need to get one with pins soldered in already). Then all the connections are available as screw terminals. That's all there is to it!

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So if I understand correctly, if I have an Arduino Uno R3 board (these are the ones I have: Arduino Uno Rev3 — Arduino Online Shop) (and I also have the breadboard that goes with it) is there a shield that will work with that model? Is there a shield I can put on the breadboard too? If so, what are they called? All I do is plug in the jumper wires I was already using (male to male pin) but instead put them directly into the screw terminals on the shield? Again I'm really sorry I'm new to this forum and I hope I'm not wasting people's time asking any wrong questions.

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You can drive up to 12 servos with a single UNO using the Servo library.

The power for the servos should never come from the Arduino itself, just the control signal and a common ground connection.

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There is a shiled. It's called HUB360:

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It fits on top of the Uno. And you can connect all your servos to this shield. With a proper power source your servos will run just fine. They won't, if you connect all of them straight to the Uno. Neither will Uno run.

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Yes. Just note that if you plan on using them on breadboards again, it may be difficult. The screw terminal will exert enough pressure on the pin to distort it slightly so it might not fit into a breadboard again.

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Do I have to strip the heads off the pins?

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  • If you are wanting to proceed with this as a hobby, learn to make Dupont cabling.

  • See this idea to make wire ferrules. Post #1017

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You might use ferrules. Crimp one on the end of the wire and stick it right into a screw terminal - helps eliminate 'whiskers', too - the one or two strands of wire which don't make it into the ferrule/terminal and splay out potentially causing a short to adjacent positions.

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No, just use the wires as-is. In their normal form (male-male), they function similarly to the ferrules others are referencing. Ferrules are overkill for your application and just more tools to buy that you'll probably never need again.

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As it will. Mechanical, not adhesive connections are where it's at. Then add adhesives anyway, like hot glue (not the little crafty kind, the hardware store kind) on top.

That's not good. Why not?

No biggie. Remember what I said about a REAL glue gun? Soldering not required if you use quality Dupont connectors...QUALITY Dupont connectors. Silicone jacket is best. Not the cheap starter kit crap. Check out your local RC Hobby shop, never mind 9V smoke alarm batteries and wimpy wires. Spend the few bucks to save you the money you'll otherwise be spending on Tylenol.

Can you please post your code using code tags and a schematic with all parts, connections, power source and such? The devil is in the details.

https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-to-get-the-best-out-of-this-forum/681308

20 posts in and just brainstorming...please for the sake of your project, read ^ so we can really help. Again, I'm not being mean, the consensus is that following that link is just the culture here, as it indicates, for you to get the best help and not waste time.

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Solder wick, at least I use it a lot. :upside_down_face: