VarStiff hard/soft material via Core77:
A Spanish company called Tecnalia has developed a new type of fabric that can be made to go from soft to hard and back again. Called VarStiff, the material’s default state is soft, like regular fabric; but attaching a vacuum to an embedded valve and sucking all of the air out turns the material rigid, “[achieving] hardness equivalent to that of a conventional plastic.” To get it soft again, re-introduce air.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Join 12,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!
Follow Adafruit on Instagram for top secret new products, behinds the scenes and more https://www.instagram.com/adafruit/
Maker Business — SiFive is a startup to pay attention to. RISC-5 is here to stay.
Wearables — Swatch it up
Electronics — Code like everyone’s watching
Biohacking — Stroboscopic Visual Training
Python for Microcontrollers — CircuitPython takes flight! All aboard with datum, Bluefruit CPX, and more! #Python #Adafruit #CircuitPython #PythonHardware @circuitpython @micropython @ThePSF @Adafruit
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Wish my Spanish was a little better. Looks like a perfect material for first responders needing to stabilize something like a broken leg. Folds flat in the ambulance, form fits an individual’s limb, and can be set with a foot pump. Neat.