Tag Archives: circuit board

BreadBox Desktop Circuit Board Maker: Etchanting

Posted on by

We’ve featured a variety of compact kits that you can use to print circuit boards on a variety of materials. But if all you want is to make a standard PCB using copper board, check out BreadBox. It’s a 7 cu.in. device that automates the etching process. It could save makers thousands of dollars and help small companies make polished products.

breadbox desktop circuit board maker 620x411magnify

The BreadBox has two reservoirs – one for etchants and one for cleaner solutions – and can make up to five 5.9″ x 3.9″ circuit boards at a time. Expert makers can pick the etchant they want, but the folks behind BreadBox will release a tool to help you figure out which solution to use. To get rid of the resulting fumes, the BreadBox is equipped with a 2,000rpm exhaust fan. The device itself will have a protective coat to prevent damage from etchants.

Pledge at least $249 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a BreadBox as a reward. You should visit the comments section on the Kickstarter page if you want to get into the details of the device; inventor BreadBox Technologies have been responsive and open to questions.

RGB Shades: Really Good at Blinding

Posted on by

A couple of years ago we featured Garrett Mace’s LED Matrix Shades, which are sunglasses that have rows of programmable LEDs instead of lenses. You can get a pair of those from Garrett’s online store, but you might want to wait for his RGB Shades. They’re just like the LED Matrix Shades except they have RGB LEDs.

rgb led shades by garrett mace macetech 620x434magnify

The RGB Shades’ hinges are actually made of substrate as well. Garrett came up with the design because the 3D-printed hinges in the LED Matrix Shades were harder to assemble and took a long time to mass-produce.

Here’s Hack A Day’s interview with Garrett at the 2014 Maker Faire:

Call Yeezus and head to Garrett’s website for more on his shades.

[via Hack A Day]

Rabbit Proto Lets 3D Printers Add Circuits While Printing Objects: Coming in Hot

Posted on by

We’ve seen an add-on that turns ink printers into circuit board printers, and even a 3D printer that specializes in printing circuits. A new company called Rabbit Proto takes prototyping to the next level with its eponymous product. It’s an add-on for 3D printers that lets you add conductive traces to an object while it’s being printed.

rabbit proto 3d printed circuit add on 620x351magnify

Rabbit Proto is a print head add-on that works with RepRap printers with dual-extrusion boards. It uses a 10cc syringe to deposit conductive ink, specifically Bare Conductive’s product. Together with its firmware, Rabbit Proto lets a 3D printer lay down circuits inside an object that’s being printed, saving a lot of time and effort. The video below shows a working video game controller made straight out of a 3D printer:

Here’s another example, a 3D printed electronic puzzle.:

As if that wasn’t awesome enough, you can actually use Rabbit Proto to extrude any viscous material that fits inside its syringe. The video below shows it being used with peanut butter:

You can pre-order Rabbit Proto for $350 (USD). It comes with one syringe of conductive ink. You can also get a Rabbit Proto dual-extrusion add-on – the syringe plus a filament extruder – for $450 or a whole 3D printer equipped with the dual extrusion add-on for $2,499.

[via Slash Gear]

London Underground Radio

Posted on by

I’ll be perfectly honest – I haven’t listened to broadcast radio in a number of years. Between iTunes, Pandora, and SiriusXM, I have enough choices already. That said, I would actually listen to the radio again if I could have one that looked like this.

london underground radio 1 620x930magnify

Created by sound artist/designer Yuri Suzuki, the Tube Map Radio is a printed circuit board designed in the image of London’s underground subway map. But instead of just telling you how to get from the Tower Bridge to King’s Cross, it actually works as a radio.

tube map radio 620x682magnify

Certain locations on the map form a radio circuit, and assuming you place all the resistors, capacitors, and other electronics in the right places, it will form a functional radio.

Unfortunately, I don’t think you can buy the radio at this point, but I think Yuri should consider making a series of these for different cities and selling them in kit form.

[via MoCo LoCo]

AgIC DIY Kit Lets You Print Circuit Boards on Ink Printers: Agical!

Posted on by

Last year we talked about the EX¹, a 3D printer designed to print circuit boards on a variety of materials, including paper. The EX¹ has great potential, but if all you want is to print is circuit boards on paper, the AgIC may be better for you. It’s a DIY kit that lets you convert ink printers to make them print circuit boards instead.

agic circuit board ink printer kit 620x354magnify

AgIC’s main component is a silver nanoparticle ink that’s very similar to conductive paint. You’ll have to manually inject the ink into an ink cartridge, but if you’re constantly making circuit boards that added task will be worth it. You’ll also need their special coated paper, and some conductive glue or tape to apply your parts to the board.

Printer makers must be seeing dollar signs right now. Pledge at least $299 (USD) on Kickstarter to get an AgIC DIY kit. Pledge at least $599 and you’ll get a ready-to-use AgIC modded printer.

[via PSFK]

Engineer’s Emergency Business Card Will Do in a Pinch

Posted on by

This isn’t the first circuit board business card we’ve seen, but this one is more useful than others. Its maker, Saar Drimer calls it the Engineer’s Emergency Business Card. He makes a living from making circuit boards, so this was probably a piece of cake for him.

engineers emergency business card 1 620x465magnify

You can’t plug it into your computer, or even open a beer with it, like other cards we’ve seen. But not only does Saar’s card light up when current is applied to it, it’s cleverly designed so its two resistors, LED, NPN MOSFET, capacitor, and even a little extra bit of solder can be easily removed for emergency use.

engineers emergency business card 2 620x465magnify

When all hope is lost, the MacGyver engineer could snap out one of the components and save the day. Recall the countless times you desperately needed a 1 KOhm resistor to fix an amplifier at a party, only to see the girl you were trying to impress slip away with an OCaml programmer? Never again with this little kit. You even have 2 cm of solder in there to make sure the connection’s electrically solid!

How brilliant is this?

[via Hack A Day]

Dragons Made from Circuit Boards (aka Motherboard of Dragons)

Posted on by

I may be a nerd, but it just seems like circuit boards make everything better. They are all shiny and full of circuits. And when you make dragons from old circuit boards, they look pretty amazing. They probably breathe electricity rather than fire.
dragoncircuit 620x570magnify


These cool dragons were made by Amanda aka TheblueKraken. Each dragon has been made into brooches, necklaces or business card holders that have gleaming (artificial) opals for eyes. She handcuts each circuit board, removes all of the extraneous elements, and then polishes and seals them in clear coat before assembling them with rivets.

green dragon brooch 620x787magnify

dragoncircuit1 620x507magnify


I love how she used different circuit boards for the wings, adding some depth. And check out this design – it’s a red dragon necklace, made from a less common red circuit board and hesonite garnets.

red dragon necklace 620x484magnify

These and other cool designs are available over at TheBlueKraken’s ArtFire shop.

I pity the knight who goes up against these dragons. Electricity and armor don’t mix.

[via Obvious Winner]

EX¹ 3D Prints Circuit Boards: Rapidest Prototyping

Posted on by

Last year we found out about a new material that could be used with 3D printers to make simple electronic sensors. If that tinkled the tinkerer in you, wait ’til you see the EX¹ 3D printer. Made by a group of young geniuses calling themselves Cartesian Co., EX¹ prints circuit boards, and does so on a variety of materials.

ex1 circuit board 3d printer by cartesian co 620x878magnify

EX¹ prints a circuit board using two chemicals that react to leave silver nano particles on a surface. Cartesian Co. claims they have successfully used this process to print circuits on a variety of materials, including “plastic (many types), glass, wood, ceramic, silicone and even fabric and paper.” They’re also working on a coating that can make any surface compatible with the EX¹.

Pledge at least $1,499 (USD) on Kickstarter to get an EX¹ printer  – plus cartridges and substrates to print on – as a reward.

[via Gigaom]

Executive Decision Maker Pro Kit: for Wishy-washy Makers

Posted on by

Here’s a fun project that can be scaled depending on your skill level with electronics. Like the Magic 8-ball, the Executive Decision Maker Pro lets you outsource your fate to a gadget, which is just as clueless as you are but is at least more decisive.

executive decision maker pro by vagrearg 620x413magnify

Press the Decide button and the EDM Pro will flash either Yes or No for four seconds; press the Reset button to clear the answer right away if you need to answer another question. You can also hold the Reset button and keep pressing the Decide button for rapid fire answers.

executive decision maker pro by vagrearg 2 620x348magnify

If you took one look at the EDM Pro and you already know pretty much how it works, then all you need to do is to get the design files from Vagrearg’s website. But if you need a bit of help, you should get Vagrearg’s ready to assemble EDM Pro kit for $57.50 (USD). The kit has all the parts you need but has an unassembled circuit board. If you’re a beginner, you should pay extra for the LED mounting guide and the assembled board.  If you’re a Physics nut, get this EDM instead.

[via Hack A Day]

Light Up Circuit Board Art: eLEDtronic

Posted on by

Programmer and avid gamer Saar Drimer aka boldport wanted to make a special wedding gift for his friend Mike, who’s also a gamer and a computer scientist. Not only did he succeed in making a great gift with his own hands, the tool he used to design the gift was also his creation. Saar made a wall-mountable PCB that’s accented by 42 RGB LEDs behind it.

lifegame printed circuit board art by saar drimer 620x503magnify

Saar calls this piece lifegame. To design the board, Saar used PCBmodE, a PCB design tool that he wrote. Saar made the program to make it easy to create PCBs that are functional, artistic and of varied shapes and sizes.

lifegame printed circuit board art by saar drimer 2 620x503magnify

He used an ATtiny85 microcontroller to handle the LEDs. As a finishing touch, he installed an arcade button as a tittle and a missile launch switch to toggle the power.

It started out as a personal project, but Saar said that his lifegame has also won at a design competition and shown at a museum. Head to his blog for more on how he made lifegame.

[via Hack A Day]