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    Content by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson
    E-Textile Tailor Shop by KOBAKANT
    The following institutions have funded our research and supported our work:

    Since 2020, Hannah is guest professor of the Spiel&&Objekt Master's program at the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch in Berlin

    From 2013-2015 Mika was a guest professor at the eLab at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee

    From July - December 2013 Hannah was a researcher at the UdK's Design Research Lab

    From 2010-2012 Mika was a guest researcher in the Smart Textiles Design Lab at The Swedish School of Textiles

    From 2009 - 2011 Hannah was a graduate student in the MIT Media Lab's High-Low Tech research group led by Leah Buechley


    In 2009 Hannah and Mika were both research fellows at the Distance Lab


    Between 2003 - 2009 Hannah and Mika were both students at Interface Cultures
    We support the Open Source Hardware movement. All our own designs published on this website are released under the Free Cultural Works definition
    Workshops

    Electronics Surgery

    2 & 3 November 2015 as part of the Madtech course at the Frank Mohr Institute in Groningen, The Netherlands

    This workshop is only open to Madtech students.

    Dissecting Parts and Sewing Them Back Together

    Electricity will gladly flow through all kinds of conductive materials in an endless variety of shapes and sizes. Yet we build our devices from a limited set of components, and the results look frighteningly similar. A kit-of-parts approach to assembling electronics from discrete components is good for quickly and efficiently building similar things. But as makers and designers we’re interested in exploring the full diversity of possibility.

    In this workshop we will dissect discrete components to investigate their inner workings. What materials are they made from? How are they constructed? Once we have gained an understanding of their electrical abilities, we will proceed to remake their functionality, drawing upon a diverse set of materials and techniques. Our pool of resources will include newer materials such as metalized fabrics and threads, as well as common conductive items such as pencil graphite and paper clips. For working these materials into functional forms, we can draw upon age-old techniques such as knitting and weaving, but also employ the use of CNC machinery. Your skill and ability to master new crafts are the limit.

    Throughout this whole process of taking apart and remaking, we will be extremely methodological. Probing unknown material properties, drawing and photographing what we see, making small experiments before attempting to solve a complete system. The goal is to acquire new knowledge through observation and experiment, to mix this knowledge with existing skills in an inquisitive and creative process that will result in a greater electronic diversity.

    Flickr set >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157659116995274

    Links

    How To Get What You Want >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/
    A Kit-of-No-Parts >> http://kit-of-no-parts.at/?page_id=2

    Intro to Electronics:
    Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest M. Mims >> https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5jcnBPSPWQyaTU1OW5NbVJQNW8/edit?pli=1

    Circuits and Code:
    Fade in/out circuit to visualize capacitor’s charge >> http://pcbheaven.com/circuitpages/LED_Fade_In_Fade_Out_Dimmer/
    Arduino & Processing graph example >> https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Graph
    hello.Load.45 >> http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/863.11/people/filip.tejchman/input%20devices.html

    Datasheets:
    TIP122 transistor datasheet >> https://www.fairchildsemi.com/datasheets/ti/tip120.pdf
    ATtiny datasheet >> http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-2586-AVR-8-bit-Microcontroller-ATtiny25-ATtiny45-ATtiny85_Datasheet-Summary.pdf

    Schedule

    Introduction to the workshop topic
    Electronics Surgery: taking parts apart, probing materials, documenting process (sketches, photo, video…)
    Round of presentations: explain your findings
    Explanation of discovered electric principals (resistance, electromagnetism, capacitance, contact….)
    Intro to materials and techniques
    Discuss ideas
    First experiments
    Present first experiments
    Intro to ATtiny programming (ADC and sound)
    Scale up?
    Next round of experiments
    Prepare a presentation of process
    Present

    Examples

    Example: Crochet Potentiometer
    >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=1843

    Example: Woven Speaker
    >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=5509

    Example: Lace Motor
    >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=5277

    Example: Stitched Stroke Sensor
    >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=792


    Materials and Tools

    Parts to Take Apart (Discrete Components)

    – Resistors
    – Capacitors
    – Potentiometers (knob, slider)
    – Speakers
    – Relay
    – Tilt Sensor
    – Reed Switch
    – Bend and/or Pressure Sensors

    Conductive Materials

    – Copper tape
    – Copper plated ripstop conductive fabric (solderable)
    – Silver plated nylon conductive fabric (stretch)
    – Silver plated nylon thread
    – Karl-Grimm copper thread (solderable)
    – Stainless steel thread (magnetic)
    – Nm10/3 stainless steel & polyester yarn
    – Velostat
    – Eeontex fabrics
    – Carbon paint
    – Copper or silver paint
    – Graphite pencils
    – Metal fasteners (hook&loop, snap, zipper…)
    – Paperclips, staples, pins….
    – Metal beads

    Other Materials

    – Neodymium magnets
    – Fusible interfacing
    – Stretch and non-stretch fabric scraps
    – Sewing thread
    – Paper
    – Tape
    – Glue
    – ….

    Electronics

    – Crocodile clips
    – Jumper wires
    – Breadboards
    – Wire
    – LEDs
    – Resistors
    – Capacitors
    – Enameled wire (for making speaker coils)
    – Batteries/power
    – Arduinos (Lilypads)
    – FTDIs
    – ATtiny
    – ATtiny programmers
    – …

    Tools

    – Sewing needles
    – Scissors (fabric and regular)
    – Soldering irons
    – Multimeters
    – Cutter knives and mats
    – Pliers and screwdrivers for taking things apart
    – Wire cutters and strippers
    – Iron and board
    – Sewing machine
    – USB microscope (nice to look at things up close)
    – Voltage rectifier (lab/bench power supply)
    – …



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