In addition to a very interesting OLED tutorial, the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (University of Wisconsin) also has online a video lab manual with step-by-step procedures, from basic to advanced, for working with nano materials.

(via Erik De Bruijn)

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin has available on its site a highly experimental, but apparently feasible, tutorial for producing DIY OLEDs using conductive glass and a polyvinyl alcohol solution. It presents two alternatives for the application method: a 2500rpm fan or an aluminum foil + duct tape mask. Erik De Bruijn suggests using a laser cutter to create a much more detailed and accurate mask.

The first one to try it please report back :)

(via Erik De Bruijn - thanks Erik!)

This mitten lights up when its wearer shakes hands with someone. It has two exposed soft contacts around the thumb and across the palm which, when bridged by bare skin, turn on the LED embedded on the flower. The mitten itself was created by fashion designer Isabel Tomás, and we then sewed a simple touch switch circuit onto it using conductive fabric and thread. It also works with high fives and holding hands :)

Isabel and I designed this as a soft circuits exercise for some upcoming materials workshops. Below you can find all the instructions and images we prepared for this purpose.

:: What you’ll need
Materials
- yarn (or any old glove/mitten, if you don’t want to start from scratch)
- conductive thread
- conductive fabric (we used iron-on conductive ribbon, but you can also do this with a non- thermoadhesive conductive fabric and sew it instead, just avoid the stretchy/lycra kind)
- fabric or knitted flower
- regular fabric
- regular sewing thread
- 2 metal snaps
- 1 super bright LED
- 1 BC547B transistor
- 2 x 3V coin cell batteries

Tools
- sewing needles
- needle-nose pliers
- scissors

:: Circuit

circuit schematics

:: Knit the mitten

If your knitting skills aren’t as good as Isabel’s you can use any store-bought mitten/glove and skip this step.

:: Add the contacts
On a hand shake the best point of contact usually happens in between the thumb and the index. But we thought it would be fun to also make it work for high fives so we extended the fabric contact strips all the way across the palm.

Cut two strips of iron-on conductive fabric approximately 0.5cm (0.2in) wide. One should be around 28cm (11in) long and the other 15cm (6in) - make them longer for men’s gloves.

top side

Cut two vertical slits on the top side of your glove and stitch them so the glove doesn’t come undone. Do the same on the palm side. The distance in between the top and palm slits should be approximately 7cm (2.75in).

palm side

Slide the longer strip of conductive fabric in between the two slits closest to the fingers. On the inside leave an 11cm (4.3) tip on the palm side and 10cm (4in) on the top side. Do the same with the second conductive fabric strip and slide it in between the other two slits, leaving 2cm (1in) on the palm side and 6cm (2.4in) on the top side.

Iron-on the self adhesive strips in place (or sew if using non self-adhesive fabric).

:: Make the batteries pouch
This double pouch will contain the two 3V coin cell batteries. They should fit very snugly to ensure proper contact.

Cut a piece of non-conductive cotton fabric of approximately 9cm (3.6in) x 6cm (2.4in). Hem the top and bottom on the longest side: one hem should be 1cm (0.4in) high and the other 0.5cm (0.2in). Fold your piece of fabric over itself so that the 1cm (0.4in) hem sticks out. Crease the fold with the iron.

batteries’ pouch :: inside

Next, open your square of fabric and iron on 3 strips of conductive fabric as shown on the image. Use conductive thread to sew on two snap studs at the tip of the 2 parallel strips (on the 1cm/0.4in hem).

Now, fold your piece of fabric back down and, using non-conductive thread, sew the left and right sides of your pouch.

batteries’ pouch :: outside

Turn it right side out and stitch across the middle to make two compartments. The batteries should fit very snugly inside these compartments so make them as tight as possible.

Turn it around so the snaps are facing down, and using a marker write “+” on the right side and “-” on the left.

:: Sew on the top half of the circuit

glove inside out :: top side

With your glove inside out, fold and iron on the longer conductive strip as shown above. Using conductive thread, sew a snap socket at the tip of the longest strip of fabric.

Cut another strip of conductive fabric approximately 5cm (2in) long. Place it so the its tip matches the position of the batteries pouch. Iron it on as shown above and sew the second snap socket using conductive thread.

:: Insert the LED

Insert the LED on the flower so that its legs stick out from the bottom. Make sure the legs of the LED aren’t touching each other.

:: Sew on the bottom circuit

glove inside out :: palm side
the LED is represented above as being inside the glove just so you can see where to place it, but in fact it should be embedded on the flower on the exterior, only its legs should extend into the interior.

With the glove inside out, fold and iron on the conductive strips as shown above.

Open the legs of the transistor and curl them slightly with needle-nose pliers.

Using conductive thread, sew the emitter of the transistor to the horizontal strip and the base to the vertical strip on the right.

Place the flower on the exterior side of glove so that the shorter leg of the LED (-) is closest to the transistor’s collector and sew them together using conductive thread.

Sew the other leg (+) of the LED, with conductive thread, to the left vertical strip of conductive fabric.

:: Make the lining
This is absolutely necessary since it not only makes the glove more comfortable, but also avoids contact between your skin and the exposed circuit (which would cause the LED to be always on).

Use any non-conductive stretchy fabric and sew it to the glove only at the top (near the fingers slit). This will avoid contact between your hand and the circuit while still allowing you access to it.

:: Insert the batteries and attach the pouch
Insert the batteries into the pouch. The one on the right should have + facing up and the one on the left the other way around. Use the snaps to attach the pouch to the glove.

:: Done!
That’s it. Now put your glove on and go shake hands :)

* glove illustrations by Isabel Tomás
** thank you Maurício Martins and Pedro Ângelo

The device builds a series of simulations of a growing onion plant by means of three-D scanning and printing, outputting one image every twenty-four hours from one of three angles. A fused deposition modeler that uses ABS plastic as its material is running simultaneously with a laser scanner that scans the onion. The output of this process appears rather mechanical and barren, displayed as it is at regular intervals on a conveyor belt that loops away from the scanning/printing mechanism, around a roller and back.

It was recently awarded 3rd prize at VIDA 12.0, and has now just won the grand prize in the art division at the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival.

David’s website has a great video and also time lapse sequence of the work.

“a reference book on machine design and shop practice for the mechanical engineer, draftsman, toolmaker and machinist”

Over at the Woodworks Library you’ll find a collection of over 175 complete books (.pdf format) on woodworking and related subject areas, including:

Understanding Wood
Furniture and Design
Woodworking
Carpentry
Turning
Carving
Finishing
Upholstery and Leather Work
Pattern Making
Shop Mathematics and Calculation
Blueprint Reading
Hand Tools
Machine Tools
Shop Machinery
Blacksmithing, Welding and Metalwork

(via discussion on the Open Manufacturing Google Group)

Diana Eng’s beautiful Fairytale Fashion Show @ Eyebeam.
Check out fairytalefashion.org for more info.

Conductive yarn is a great material to experiment with, but it is difficult to buy in small quantities.

Hannah Perner-Wilson from ‘How to get what you want‘ has negotiated with the manufacturer Schoeller to place a minimum order of 30 kilograms, and is looking for others who may want to make a collective purchase. She’s set up a google spreadsheet to register people’s interest.

Prices, technical details and examples are listed on her webpage.

(via talk2myshirt - thanks!)

Inspired by the paperduino, the cardboarduino is a physically larger version (with space for a 9V battery), designed by Allegheny College’s faculty member Matt Jadud, as way to introduce students to the fundamentals of soldering and working with physical computation.

The Cardboarduino is intended to be printed, cut out, and glued to the front and back of a piece of 5″ x 6″ piece of posterboard.

The builder pokes holes through the posterboard everywhere there is a dot on the top side of the design. It also labels the locations of all of the components, including color bands for the resistors.

Download the printable PDFs from concurrency.cc

(via guibot)

Currently the site offers three designs; a stool, a chair and a rocker.