Convincing people to work on PCBs is a little like telling them draw or sing... it's way too open ended and only really helpful for people who already know how it works.
Here's a short conversation I have in my mind every time I try to talk about making PCBs
You should all learn PCBs!
But what is a PCB? It's a printed circuit board!
But what is a 'printed circuit board'? It's an electrical thing!
But what are electrical things? They're everywhere! Your laptop, your phone, your mouse!
Are we going to make a laptop, a phone, a mouse? No, well, not that kind of PCB! Something rediclously simple!
What's simple electronics? etc. etc. etc.
This activity is a quick way to get club members to understand what a PCB is & have creative project ideas without gazing into the abyss of unscoped projects.
- 2 hats (or optionally, cups)
- Sticky notes!
- A pen
- A group of people
- Write down a list of components listed in the ingredients folder on sticky notes. The first time I did this I started by writing them on a note pad.
- Seperate them into two cups: one for inputs and one for outputs.
- Pass them out to everyone. You could give people 1 of each. You can spice it up by giving everyone either 2 inputs or 2 outputs, then a minute to trade with people to get an input and an output. At minimium, everyone should have 1 input and 1 output.
- Provide an example project idea that uses the components you have. For example, if you have a capacitive touch sensor and a speaker, you could make a pocket piano.
- Give people a minute to come up with a project idea that uses the components they have.
- Have everyone share their project ideas with the group.
