This week, we were introduced to stitched and paper circuits. Inspired by seeing the work by Jie Qi and realising that she had done circuit stickers (ordered already!) I wanted to give paper circuits a try using slug tape (copper tape), aluminium foil (see below) , paper, loo rolls, a cell battery and an LED.
Lighting LEDs seem to be the 'hello world' of hardware.
For someone with very little/negligible hardware background, this can be quite tiring but perseverance is key (like any problem solving).,
So here's ten things I learned playing/struggling/pushing just saying 'hello world' (lighting ONE led in three different ways)
- Conductive ink has inbuilt resistance (had a tube from Mini-Maker fair and thought I would play with it)
- The multimeter is your friend and can help you test out/discard theories asap (fail fast and often)
- Planning things once you get something is helpful (no, really it is)
- Copper/slug tape is fiddly even with small fingers but eventually you can get there
- Aluminium foil can help when copper tape breaks and you want the circuit to continue
- Flat paper circuits are good way to start but tricky for novices
- Using LED on one side of paper/card and wiring the other is trickier
- Using LED on a cyclinder (who am I kidding, a toilet roll) is trickier still.
- It is HARD to get started but once you cross the barrier, it is rewarding (as in more skilled to do something more fun)
- I don't actually have ten things to say
