Before heavy machinery and automation, manufacturing was done by hand. With no computers to handle each step of the design, production and QA, the responsibilities fell to skilled tradespeople.
Rural manufacturing could only support so many people before it plateaued, so putting-out systems were implemented to centralize a collective of manufacturers under one business hub. The central provider was able to subcontract specific orders to rural manufacturers, spreading the workload among tradespeople and giving those tradespeople a wider customer base. Versatility and the division of labor would be key if the American manufacturing industry were to take off, however.
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 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.