You like making things and you have been meaning to learn the electronics and printing side. Small group, weekday evenings, hands on within the first ten minutes.
Each cohort ends with your own project. Past directions: a plant monitor that texts you, a custom game controller, a lamp with a printed diffuser and addressable LEDs, a sensor that logs the garage door. The project is not the point. Being able to do the next one without us is.
Held seats
A seat or two in every cohort is held for adults for whom the fee would be the reason not to come. Ask in your inquiry, in a sentence. No documents and no committee, and it does not change what you get: same bench, same tools, same project.
A held seat covers the course. If that cohort is one of the ones built around a kit you take home, the parts are yours at what they cost us, with nothing added on top. That is a small fraction of the price, and it is the one part of a seat that is not free for us either. If the parts are still what stands in the way, say that too and we will sort it out.
Tools you will use
Arduino and ESP32 boards, common sensors and actuators, a soldering station, calipers, a slicer (OrcaSlicer), and multicolor FDM printers. We also have a UV flatbed printer, so you can print a label, a graphic, or a texture directly onto a panel or a case you made.
What participants leave with
- A finished project you designed, wired, programmed, and printed a part for.
- Working knowledge of a microcontroller (Arduino or ESP32), common sensors, and a slicer.
- Enough footing to buy the parts and start the next project on your own.
How a session runs
- Session one, electronics that make sense. Voltage, current, a breadboard, and a circuit that does something.
- Session two, the microcontroller. Blink, then read a sensor, then act on it.
- Session three, design for printing. Model a bracket or an enclosure and print it in multicolor.
- Sessions four to six, your project. Scope it, build it, debug it, show it.
Questions we get
I have never coded.
You do not need to have. The first program is ten lines and you type every one of them.
How much time does it take outside the sessions?
None is required. The build happens in the room. People who want to keep going between sessions can, and we will tell you what to buy.
Do I keep the kit?
It depends on the class. Some run on shared workshop equipment you use in the room, and some are built around a kit you take home. The course description says which before you sign up, and you can ask in an inquiry.