Homemade Hardware

Catalog description

Hardware is not hard, and rapidly prototyping circuit boards is easier than ever with new tools available at ITP. Students will learn how to grow from a breadboard to a custom surface mount board, all without leaving the floor. This class is about artists and designers taking control of their hardware, and exploring the potential of embedding their projects into the world around them. Students will learn the multitude of tools and processes required to make a DIY circuit board. These include Eagle CAD, micro-milling machines, drawing schematics, ordering parts, surface-mount components, acid etching, solder paste and stenciling, reflow, pick-and-place, and others. In-class demonstrations will be done for each of the above, and students will complete assignments using online reference notes and videos. Two smaller projects and one final project will be assigned (3 total), each a circuit of the student's’ choosing. These three assignments will be designed to work off the most recently taught subjects, and to get the students to fail early. It’s a lot of new material to be learning across multiple domains, so the students will need the entire semester to iterate.