Review of Triggertrap Shield for Arduino

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List Price: $49.99
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Arrived eventually and complete. The uncertain and long time caused by going through customs adds to how long you wait.

Works as designed and without any problems.

I would not recommend this kit for a beginner. The instructions are a bit weak at a few key places, such as which side of a diode goes where. For some reason a bunch of pictures are just wrong (and bizarrely called out in text as "this picture is wrong"). The board artwork didn't make use of thermal reliefs so soldering pins to the ground plane is difficult requires some care. (Thermals? I guess they don't teach that stuff in school.)

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Nice product and good instructions on the website. Pictures about building the product could be a little more clear. The placement of the sensors could be explained some more

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The full-blown Triggertrap runs about $200, so assembling this shield and pairing it with a $30 Arduino Deumilanova represents quite a saving ($120 to be exact). Aside from having to assemble the shield yourself, the arrangement of components on the shield also differs from the full-blown product. The shield is virtually covered in light, laser and sound sensors plus Aux. Input, Camera Remote jacks, an IR transmitter, 5 pushbuttons and an LCD display! Quite a feat of engineering, but very hard to wrap any kind of protective case around.

Function-wise, the shield seems to do everything the full-blown unit does, with perhaps the exception of an LED indicating that the camera has been triggered. (At least I couldn't find an LED on the shield.)

As the other reviewers have indicated, assembly is pretty straightforward and well-explained (with the exception of diode orientation) on the website. You do probably need a decent temperature controlled soldering station for all these tiny components.

Once assembled and paired with an Arduino, you can trigger your camera via:

Laser

Ambient light

Sound

Aux. connector

Timelapse

You can signal to your camera with a cable (you buy or build to match your camera) or use the on-board IR Transmitter (not sure which cameras this works with). All options have threshold and delay settings.

If you have never played with the Arduino before, set aside a couple of hours to install the programming software on your PC and play with some sample "sketches" (programs). This whole process is thoroughly documented on the web and should not pose a problem if you give yourself a little time to get into it. Once "programmed" the Arduino can be disconnected from the PC and run by itself. All you will need is a 7-12 VDC power supply or it can draw 5V from a USB cable.

This is really an extraordinary product and I hope it will continue to be offered. The same vendor's Smartphone apps seem to have taken over their attention, but you don't get the cool sensors with that app.