#PCB
38 postsMixxtape - the first boards, and what went wrong
The first 20 Mixxtape boards arrived from JLCPCB. One boots, the voltage regulator overheats, and there is a list of changes for version two.
Read postTokyo Metro PCB - 248 stations, work in progress
A 320 × 280 mm PCB map of the Tokyo subway with one RGB LED for each of its 248 stations, part way through routing
Read postMontréal Métro PCB - porting the SkyTrain board to a new city
A 160 mm square PCB map of the Montréal Métro with one RGB LED for each of its 73 stations
Read postVancouver SkyTrain PCB v3 - generated from real geography
The third redesign of the Vancouver SkyTrain PCB, built from real map data instead of hand-drawn artwork
Read postMixxtape - a cassette you can actually record on
A cassette-shaped PCB, sized to fit a real Norelco case, that actually records
Read postPCB Tips and Tricks
A few tools I keep coming back to when making PCBs: EasyEDA2Kicad, Gingerbread, and KiKit.
Read postTetragonal Trapezohedron Retrospective
Retrospective of a Tetragonal Trapezohedron lamp built from eight kite-shaped LED PCBs welded together.
Read postPCB Metro maps retrospective
Retrospective of the Vancouver SkyTrain and Washington DC Metro PCB maps with LEDs that light up as trains arrive.
Read postDodecahedron PCB Retrospective
What went right and wrong building a dodecahedron lamp from twelve LED pentagon PCBs, about $60 USD from JLCPCB for 25 panels.
Read postDodecahedron PCB Design
Design notes for a pentagon PCB panel with addressable LEDs, twelve of which weld together into a dodecahedron lamp.
Read post100 ideas project retrospective (2023)
Looking back at 100 days of daily project ideas in 2023, what got built, what got scrapped, and why I burned out doing it.
Read postIdea 099 - Stevens projects club
A Patreon subscription where members receive one of Steven's small hardware projects twice a year.
Read postIdea 097 - Modern decoder ring
A decoder ring replacement with a screen and buttons that encrypts messages using modern public-key cryptography.
Read postIdea 085 - Carved wooden postcards
Baltic birch plywood postcards, one for every mammal in BC, mailed through Canada Post.
Read postIdea 079 - Gorilla water quality monitoring device
A $10-20 citizen science sensor for streams that logs several data points to flag unusual water quality.
Read postIdea 077 - Equilateral triangles LED panels
Equilateral triangle LED PCBs that join into regular polyhedrons; built as the Dodecahedron PCB.
Read postIdea 069 - One Liners
A dump of 36 throwaway one-line ideas, posted on idea day 69 to clear the backlog.
Read postIdea 066 - Tilt Pacman
A one-pixel Pac-Man on an RGB LED matrix, steered by tilting an accelerometer.
Read postIdea 065 - Atari Space Invaders LED Matrix pendent
A necklace pendant with an LED matrix that plays Atari Space Invaders animations.
Read postIdea 058 - In a million parts
A series of small artworks, one per quotable line from a book, movie, or album, made and shared on a steady schedule.
Read postIdea 051 - Enigma machine kit
A kit that recreates the German Enigma cipher machine using PCBs.
Read postIdea 048 - The beat of the crowd - badge
A small six-LED badge that broadcasts a Bluetooth beacon every second and pulses faster as more badges come near.
Read postIdea 044 - Bio Punk Conference badge
A conference badge with an animated electronic pet whose DNA mixes with another badge's pet when the two are connected.
Read postIdea 043 - BACnet MSTP Testing conference Badge
A sub-$10 conference badge for BACnet plugfest that works as both a BACnet server and client for testing equipment.
Read postIdea 042 - GPIO tester breakout board
An 8-position DIP switch breakout board for setting dev board GPIO pins high or low while testing.
Read postIdea 028 - Finite Future Clock
Idea: an A2 LED panel that shows a progress bar of how much of your life has passed and how much is left.
Read postIdea 025 - Skull card game
Idea: laser-cut or PCB versions of the Skull card game.
Read postIdea 023 - Light painting rod
Idea: a programmable strip of LEDs mounted on a rod for light painting photos.
Read postIdea 022 - Translink map PCB
Idea: a live, interactive TransLink metro map of Vancouver built from LEDs on a PCB.
Read postIdea 013 - Speech to Text, always listening, ear badge
Idea: an ear-shaped electronic badge that records speech to text 24 hours a day using OpenAI Whisper, feeding a personal AI assistant.
Read postIdea 012 - LED Constellation Star map
Idea: a constellation star map PCB made with overlapping LEDs.
Read postIdea 006 - Procedurally generated Glowing Mushroom PCB
Idea: procedurally generated mushroom art PCBs for the GameOfShrooms art project, with backlit LEDs for a glow.
Read postIdea 004 - Universal Serial breakout board
Idea: a USB to serial board that supports TTL 3.3V and 5V, RS232, and RS485 2-wire and 4-wire, with DB9, DB25 and screw terminals.
Read postIdea 003 - PCB Art of Every Mammal in BC
Idea: a series of PCB art badges, one for each of the 130 mammals in BC, with LED eyes and an SAO connector for an art show display.
Read postIdea 002 - Keyboard Flute
Idea: an electronic flute PCB the size of a ruler with hot-swappable keyboard switches, a MEMS mic for breath control, and an ESP32.
Read postYear in review 2022
Year in review 2022: Lori moving in, painting the townhouse, cherry blossoms, a CBC interview about the bird cards, travel, and fostering a puppy.
Read postJanuary 2020 brain dump
January 2020 brain dump: links on polyhedra, plotter art, LED lava lamps, capacitive touch PCBs, and tools for makers.
Read postNov 2018 brain dump
November 2018 bookmarks on Wobble Garden, PCB art, SI playing cards, sand tables, and Islamic geometric design books.
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