Early to join the desktop 3D revolution (with MakerBot Cupcake Serial #09!), Clothbot has put in countless hours exploring materials and methods towards new ways to use 3D printers, particularly in the context of wearable electronics and soft circuits. (Check out this early Shapeways interview with him here.)
I have learned quite a bit from him from his years of passionate exploration of OpenSCAD as a designer. In addition to his own design and experimentation, he has played a crucial role nurturing the nascent open source 3D community from the first few mad hackers into the unstoppable hordes you will see at Maker Faire this weekend, both as an educator and as a behind-the-scenes online community manager (bowing out in this moving post from the end of 2012).
He is also an EE and a passionate electronics hacker, so I’m thrilled to encounter him in the Adafruit community as well!
Peristaltic Liquid Pump with Silicone Tubing: Move fluid safely from here to there with this very nice little pump. Unlike most liquid pumps, this is a peristaltic type – the pump squishes the silicone tubing that contains the liquid instead of impelling it directly. The upshot? The pump never touches the fluid which makes this an excellent choice for any food/drink/sterile based pumping such as for making drink-bots or gardening robots! The pump is basically a geared down DC motor, so it has a lot of torque. Inside the pump is a ‘clover’ pattern of rollers. As the motor turns, the clover presses on the tube to press the fluid though. The pump does not need to be primed and in fact can self-prime itself with water a half meter with ease. You can PWM the motor to speed up or slow down the flow rate and if you connect the motor the other way it will move fluid the other direction. Works great with either a power transistor (basic on/off) or a motor driver chip such as the L293D. (read more)
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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, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, 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.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: New Python Releases, an ESP32+MicroPython IDE and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
