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)
– …