I'm using 4 x 50kg load cells and an Arduino Uno R3 for an interactive music project where a dancer will perform on top of a stage with each sensor under the corners of a board 'stage'. I need to monitor each cell individually as these values will be sent to Max/MSP (an object-based coding software) to control musical effect parameters based on the dancers movement/placement across the board.

I have 4 50kg single strain load cells with individual HX711 amplifiers. I have 1% tolerance metal film 1k resistors to complete the individual Wheatstone Bridge circuits and a multimeter to measure the voltage/resistance. I've chosen this design as it seems the most likely to allow me to read each sensor individually simultaneously.

I'm trying to find a way to prototype the circuit design as I am new to circuit building and electronics and don't want to solder onto the HX711s and load cells straight away (originally a musician and looking to use electronics hardware for music projects). I have jumper/dupont cables, a breadboard etc. and I also have an Arduino Uno Protoshield if needed. I've heard about screwable terminals etc. but it looks like you have to still solder the terminals onto the HX711s before you can screw in the load cell wires to the terminals.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can make the pieces useable for prototyping please? The project does only require a prototype, but I need to evidence it working so the circuit and connections still need to be sturdy enough to withstand someone jumping and moving around on top of the board being measured.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Welcome to AAC.

The proper way to prototype with surface mount technology is with breakout boards. A breakout is a small PCB (Printed Circuit Board) with the component soldered on and places to access each pin or terminal. They are usually designed to have .1” (2.54mm) headers soldered on to accept the common DuPont wires.

For example, this is SparkFun’s version for the HX-711. Once you have a breakout board you can connect things like the load cells themselves in various ways. Screw terminals with the same 2.54mm pitch (spacing) as the pin headers are readily available and can be used instead.

A question is, why are you avoiding soldering?

 

Solder is reliable, all other methods less so.
You may think it's easier to avoid it, but any other method will make you crazy in the long run.

 

A Google of HX711 Amplifier Module should bring up a dozen examples of nice little off the shelf modular boards. Note how some examples handle the excitation voltage. I just use jumper wires with the HX711 modules.

Ron

 

I'm using 4 x 50kg load cells and an Arduino Uno R3 for an interactive music project where a dancer will perform on top of a stage with each sensor under the corners of a board 'stage'. I need to monitor each cell individually as these values will be sent to Max/MSP (an object-based coding software) to control musical effect parameters based on the dancers movement/placement across the board.

I have 4 50kg single strain load cells with individual HX711 amplifiers. I have 1% tolerance metal film 1k resistors to complete the individual Wheatstone Bridge circuits and a multimeter to measure the voltage/resistance. I've chosen this design as it seems the most likely to allow me to read each sensor individually simultaneously.

I'm trying to find a way to prototype the circuit design as I am new to circuit building and electronics and don't want to solder onto the HX711s and load cells straight away (originally a musician and looking to use electronics hardware for music projects). I have jumper/dupont cables, a breadboard etc. and I also have an Arduino Uno Protoshield if needed. I've heard about screwable terminals etc. but it looks like you have to still solder the terminals onto the HX711s before you can screw in the load cell wires to the terminals.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can make the pieces useable for prototyping please? The project does only require a prototype, but I need to evidence it working so the circuit and connections still need to be sturdy enough to withstand someone jumping and moving around on top of the board being measured.

Thanks in advance for your help.

First I don't think a 50kg load cell will be enough capacity for dancing on. If you think about kg/S^2 meter loading if take the (assuming female) average woman weighs 50+kg and all weight will be on part of her foot. And if jumping is involved the numbers are much higher. For a Male dancer the numbers get much higher.
You could use crimp connectors for the cabling. For the PWB you need to learn to solder. It is not that hard.