A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source. Because of their small size, they are great for placing in clothes. This was not always the case, though. Early LEDs were low-intensity red diodes. Modern LEDs can be not only red, but also bl...
Yesterday I made touch-sensitive fabric shaped like a frog. It works with six pieces of fabric and two sheets of aluminum foil. First four layers of fabric in the shape of the switch are made. Then, two sheets of aluminum foil are cut in the same shape,...
Today I made a speaker. I started with a small speaker, broke the casing, and used speaker inside. I also made a bag pouch for it. It works by vibrating and it can be connectexd to an arduino microcontroller to make music. With programming it can play no...
A robotic dog can be made from cardboard. Unlike a real dog, “K-9” does not need to be fed and does not go to the restroom in the house. Athough it is not real, it acts like a real dog. It can be programmed to wag its tail if you get near, o...
Today we took apart a small toy sword. We were able to circuit bend it, or modify it, so that we could change the sound and dim the light with a potentiometer. We also were able to skip the switch in a way so that the circuit was always closed. Circuit be...
Today I took apart an old cell phone among other simple electronics. I learned about the parts it uses and how it works and noticed qualities of its parts. Most are surface-mount. It can have a vibrator, a capacitor, and a screen. Because it is a worki...
We just finished totally demolishing an already not working printer. It was difficult to avoid the many capacitors. Although it was greasy, dusty, and difficult, the printer was taken apart.
Yesterday we also took apart a printer. It was messy because of the ink, and many of the screws would not come out. We also had troubles getting the top off. Whoever owns it will probabaly not get it back. At least not in a working condition.
Yesterday we made a squigglebot. It was basically a small fan with markers on the corners. THree of the blades were cut off though. This was to make it uneven. It worked.
Today I made a small robot that gets angry easily. If you push the button, his eye glows red. It isn’t much, but tomorrow I plan to add more. Hopefully, he will wave his arms, too.
Today we had a lesson on different kinds of circuits. We learned a lot about voltage, resistance, and current, such as when the change between parallel and series circuits and how. We also did some math, and then completed a very challenging set of works...
Our robot did not even come close to being completed. We had a really good idea, though. But due to numerous, impassable setbacks the robot does not work. It was supposed to be a light organ on wheels, but the body had holes, the motors did not work, we l...
Sadly, this is my final camp at fablab this year. 🙁 So far, it’s great! Today we learned to use a program similar to arduino called processing. However, processing is for visual interaction with the computer and arduino is for a microcontroll...
As usual, we learn the hard way to do something , and then, after we take FOREVER to complete the project, we learn the shortcut. Today it was arrays. We were able to make about 10 pacmen move across the screen, rewriting the code each time. After we shor...
Today we learned how to download libraries. I chose to download 3D objects. This lets me use new words to extend a program’s language with 3D objects instead of 2D. I also tried to modify the program by adding a helix, but it didn’t work. I...
