"Done" is a relative term- while we have a functional and complete system, the actual stable of parts is wildly expandable. For instance, if we decided to do a 10x build of a TV-B-Gone, that would necessitate a new set of components- a different microcontroller, infrared LEDs, some transistors and a few other things. An AM radio might require a crystal and an audio amplifier. A real masochist may try making a POV display, which has its own dramas.

At any rate, this is where we've elected to plant our flag- an assortment of LEDs, a pseudo-Atmega328P with an Arduino Deumilanove clone inside, a 555, resistors, capacitors, dipswitches, a pushbutton, a light sensitive resistor, and a rotary encoder. The whole thing can easily be driven off a 9V battery- our student kits are a breadboard mounted on a piece of coroplast along with the 9V and holder.

Jude swears he is going to make a furniture-grade board out of walnut.

One thing I want to point out: of the 11 or so people involved in this project, only maybe three of them are dedicated electronics hobbyists. The involvement we got from non-electronics members is something we're very proud of, and we certainly could never have done this without the whole cast of characters.

We will be showcasing this at the Science Museum of Minnesota's Make Day in two weeks- we're very excited to get the chance to let some more kids experience the 'A-ha' moment of their first living, breathing circuit.

Last of all, I asked for some input from our team members. Not all of them responded but here's what those who did had to say about their feelings on the project.

Pete:

I thought it was a great experience, I was surprised that the team working on the project remained fairly small, but pleased that any requests for help to TCMaker at large were extremely quick and very helpful. Maybe we need to look at how we internally market such projects and recruit members to be on this type of team.

What did you learn? 

I learned a ton, and am very grateful to everyone on the GHSC team for their support, and to TCMaker member and friends who shared their time and effort to make this a success. The new areas I got immersed in were casting and vacuum forming, both of which have been things I've wanted to do but never quite gotten to. I also was directed to OpenSCAD by a GHSC team member, and learned how to use it to make models for molds etc.

What went wrong?

Everything, that's how I learned so much. I had CNC problems, Peter was very accomdating and cut molds for us to keep things moving. Casting and Vacumm Forming take time to gain experience even with experienced guides, so it was the good kind of mistakes and learning.

We nominated Mike the Grand Poobah to be the final word on decisions, which I think was correct, but we should have done so sooner. The abillity to see and track the other entries was terrible, not something we can change ourselves, but should be mentioned to Element14. The tools didn't work for me multiple times. There wasn't a good means of challenge entry aggregation either, that seems like a huge missed opportunity.

What went right?

Casting LEDs went well, and we got reproducible if flawed components, Karin the component Queen took over making most of the other compents and turned out and amazing quantity and variety of items very quickly. I think the build process for how to layout and secure the components evloved with input from multiple fronts, but I wasn't sufficiently involved to know.

What would you do differently?

If given the chance, I'd try and clear my calendar a bit. I'm going through major housing rearrangement and renovations and that greatly curtailed my available time. Also, I feel we have the luxury to look at small issues, because everything went so well, my suggestions are:

I'd try to get more members involved early on.

I think having more upfront design sessions would be helpfull. On this project we could work pretty independantly, because we were scaling up discrete components for much of the time, we didn't need to meet and has out a lot of the parameters of what the result needed to do. (Take resistor, make it bigger to the correct scale, repeat) The only downside that we hit, and it's very minor is that we didn't have a consistent look and feel to things, I think that would have been helpfull to discuss early on. I think the impact of not doing so on another type of project could be much more harmful, and cause lost work due to incompatibility / lack of standardization.

Getting everyone to post about what they are doing, at least internally would be helpful so everyone is aware of what's going on, how many x have been made, did the last casting turn out, has anyone refilled the mold? What materials are we making x out of? why? what didn't work? and why? ( Process xyz to make a diode wasn't mechanically strong enough etc)

Will you do this again next year?

I'd certainly like to be involved again, it was great for me and my bonds with others at the HF.

Where do you see this project going?

That's hard to say, I have a limited imagination for such things. I think a lot will depend on how much exposure it gets, how well it resonates with other groups, and how growth and extension is coordinated. I.e. how does TCMaker sheppard the project going forward.

What excites you about it?

First, it's just intrinsically cool, you've gotta love giant components that work and can be used to build real circuits. I'm excited to see the reaction at Make Day at the SMM, and am very interested in the feedback of those seeing it for the first time there. I think the projects universallity and utillity is a huge plus. I think the abillity to build parts out of almost anything is also a huge plus. I had access to both knowledable people and parts to pursue my interest in electronics from an early age. I'm still learing 30 some years later, I think this project my give others who have less access to expertease a "way in" to electronics, and would definately facilitate group learning and experimentation in a great way.

Jude:

This project was cool before the contest and the contest only expanded the possibilities. When we first started working on the idea as an aid to our stuff I felt it was interesting and would be fun to work on. But when the challenge happened with its focus on education and its emphasis on the worldwide scope it really turned me on. It also perhaps diverted me. I tended from that point on to look mainly for widely found materials and easy construction techniques.

I could have worked out an exact upscale of the the board and strove to make components exact replicas. Instead I found myself looking for materials in the dumpster and ways kids could construct and get their hands dirty. The hand, head and heart connection in learning to work needs to have many entry points. That kids could make a resistor mock-up while learning what a resistor does and how it could be used broadens the opportunity to catch some kids heart. Informal learning can have a much more lasting impression then the less hands on formal process, and who knows just what will ensnare a kid.

That we have come up with multiple ways to get to each different component is I think a strength. That we have shown that the board can be constructed out of a wide variety of found materials is also a strength. Cardboard, Foam insulation. Soda cans, Poster board, White Board, Pegboard, Steel wool and all the other materials we found are available in some combination sufficient to construct the board literally everywhere in the world.

I will probably never forget the demo at our fair when the kid started building the circuit without me saying a word just by looking at the big board circuit. At that point I realized we had succeeded. What is more I realized that the board works both ways big to little and little to big. Much younger kids can use the big board even though they would have great difficulty with the small board and components.

The only thing that ever worried me is that this project is such a fundamental and simple idea that it would not be flashy enough. But after that young boy I don't care.

Great fun, great project.

Karin:

Coming into this project I had no knowledge of circuits, components, or electrical anything for that matter.  I built about 50 components and had an awesome time learning the basics.  There were of course prototypes and failures but that was just part of the fun of the whole process.  I liked having a box full of possible materials and being allowed to experiment.  I don’t really have any suggestions on what should be done differently because it all seemed to work out well.  I think I could have started earlier in the process if I had had a list of the different components that were needed and felt a little bit more comfortable jumping in…once I got my feet wet it wasn’t an issue continuing.  I would do this again in a heartbeat…no matter what topic it was!

I think our project has the potential to keep going as an educational tool for our organization but I hope for others as well.  I think the potential and purpose for this is what has me the most excited.  This is such a great tool for hands on learning that can be duplicated anywhere in the world and with limited financial resources.  In fact, this could really encourage creativity and the reuse and recycling of materials. Accessible education is imperative to so many in this world. I am very proud of being able to help produce something that could truly play a role in making this knowledge obtainable.

Mike:

As the project draws to a close I have to say the experience was everything I'd hoped it could be. It gave me a chance to meet and work with some of my fellow members that I hadn't worked with before. It was great to have a project with a deadline and a sense of purpose, something internally driven rather than imposed from without.

I'm very proud of our team, and I'm very proud of our project. I'm thrilled that of the members of our team, only a couple had strong knowledge of electronics coming into this. Most of the project didn't require a great deal of electronics knowledge, which meant that it was far more accessible to our general membership. It was an educational experience for everyone- most of us learned at least one new skill (vacuum forming, silicone mold casting, soldering, resistor color code reading, papier-mache, to name a few). A couple of our members got to use the CNC tools that they've worked so hard on "in anger", so to speak, for the first time. All of us had a great time.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: all I hope for is that one kid somewhere gets that fixation for electronics that comes with the blinking LED moment, and that fixation makes that kid's life better.

Thanks to the team members!

Jude, Karin, Pete, Peter, Mike, Jon, Paul, John S, Scott, Wayne, Adam, John B, and anyone else I might have missed. You guys did a wonderful job and I'm proud to have worked with you.