To get some idea of how easily something can go wrong it might help to read say read about the stamp collecting device for starters.

Thanks for that link. That is brilliant, especially Eliezer's comment:

Seth, I see that you were a PhD student in NEU’s Electrical Engineering department. Electrical engineering isn’t very complicated, right? I mean, it’s just:

while device is incomplete

…get some wires

…connect them

The part about getting wires can be implemented by going to a hardware store, and as for connecting them, a soldering iron should do the trick.