Design & Technology May 2017 Update

13 BRAND NEW PRODUCTS INSIDE!

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY:

MAY 2017 UPDATE USING CONCRETE IN D&T PROJECTS See pages 6 & 7 for details.

ALSO INSIDE

RECENT ADDITIONS

DIY plywood Heng lamp Popular materials E-Textiles bag designs BBC micro:bit Scalextric lap counter 3D printed Bluetooth speaker resource BBC micro:bit audio cable

Laser rubber and plywood Servo accessories Electric pumps E-Textiles Mini speakers NeoPixel LEDs

NEW! – GREY LASER COMPATIBLE RUBBER These 2.3mm Grey Laser Compatible Rubber A4 sheets are highly versatile and are the perfect choice for using with a laser cutter.

When cut it produces no harmful gasses and it is very low odour (unlike most types of rubber). It can be engraved and cut with any type of CO2 laser and offers outstanding engraving and impression quality.

Although it has a number of potential uses, its high resistance to alcohol and water based inks makes it the ideal choice for making custom rubber stamps. Other possible uses include making custom seals, rubber feet, protective strips and even durable external decorations for projects.

www.kitronik.co.uk/5510

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2.3mm Grey Laser Compatible Rubber – A4 sheet

5510

£11.95

FREE RESOURCE

BUILDING A DIY HENG INSPIRED LAMP Our good friends from Just Add Sharks love the creative aspects of laser cutting and, as well as devising their own creative projects, they're always on the lookout for sources of inspiration.

To find out what a Heng lamp is and how to make a lamp inspired by it, visit this page to view a step-by-step explanation with pictures: www.kitronik.co.uk/henglamp

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NEW! – 9MM POPLAR LASER PLYWOOD This 9mm thick Poplar plywood sheet is a new addition to our plywood range. It is AB grade with a consistent surface colour and uses interior glue. www.kitronik.co.uk/3260

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9mm Poplar Laser Plywood – 600mm x 400mm sheet

3260

£5.65

£5.40

£4.55

POPULAR MATERIALS Looking for materials? Check out these popular ranges...

PERSPEX www.kitronik.co.uk/perspex

HIPs www.kitronik.co.uk/hips

PLYWOOD www.kitronik.co.uk/plywood

BLUE STRYOFOAM SHEETS www.kitronik.co.uk/craftfoam

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NEW! – WATER PUMP 6V–12V WITH 1M SILICONE TUBE This diaphragm pump is the perfect choice for any project that requires water to be moved from one place to another. The pump is supplied with 1m of silicon hose that can be cut as required. The hose provides a good seal and will not leak.

Possible uses/projects include; a small aquarium pump, automatic plant watering system, making a water feature or music activated dancing water features to name but a few. When pumping a liquid the pump runs very quietly.

Water Pump 6V-12V with 1m Silicone Tube (2567)

Extra tubing is available in 5m lengths.

The pump requires between 6 - 12V DC and between 0.5 - 0.7A. www.kitronik.co.uk/2567 www.kitronik.co.uk/2569

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Water Pump 6V–12V with 1m Silicone Tube

2567

£9.99

5m Silicone Tube

2569

£4.99

NEED MOTORS FOR A PROJECT? Check out our full range at

www.kitronik.co.uk/motors 4

5m Silicone Tube (2569)

SERVOS & SERVO ACCESSORIES MINI 360 DEGREE SERVO This is a 360 degree continuous rotation servo. Its operation is very different to that of a standard servo. Instead of going to a specified angle, this servo will be static at a 1.5mS pulse (a trimmer is included to adjust this), a longer pulse gives forward rotation and a shorter pulse give backwards rotation. www.kitronik.co.uk/2568

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Mini 360 Degree Servo

2568

£2.95

£2.75

NEW! – 60MM SERVO WHEELS These wheels are a perfect match for the 360 degree servo above (sold separately) and when used together are a great starting point for a speed controlled buggy. They are 60mm in diameter and 8mm wide and push directly on to the servo.

The outer tyre is made from silicone. www.kitronik.co.uk/2574

Servo not included

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60mm Servo Wheels – Pair

2574

£1.25

NEW! – SERVO CABLES This range of handy cables are ideal for using with servo motors. There are two extension cables, allowing the servo to be placed further away from the control board, and also a splitter cable allowing two servos to be controlled by the same signal. www.kitronik.co.uk/4156

www.kitronik.co.uk/4157

www.kitronik.co.uk/4158

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30cm 2x Male to Female Servo Splitter Cable

4156

£3.60

30cm Male to Female Servo Extension Cable

4157

£2.25

60cm Male to Female Servo Extension Cable

4158

£3.15 5

USING CONCRETE

WRITTEN BY KERRY TRUMAN, SENIOR TECHNICIAN AT NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY

Concrete can be a fantastic looking material and is increasingly being used in modern product and building designs. Kerry Truman, Senior Technician in the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University, talks about how he has used it at the university and also with his outreach work in schools.

When the concrete speaker project (at Nottingham Trent University) was first developed, it built upon excellent practice I saw being developed within the D&T community. Working within a University and being part of a busy, creative and innovative design environment I saw opportunity to develop these great ideas and offer a 'refreshed' solution based around new and innovative materials and processes I find myself working with.

Over recent years alongside support from Kitronik, l have been able to help develop the use of concrete as a design material within schools; both creatively and cost effectively.

The inclusion within Fernwood Design Day events, being welcomed as part of Young Engineers Club sessions within schools, general drop in pupil mentoring and running our own free teacher CPD events have all helped create working collaborative links within the Design and Technology community.

Pupils participating in The Fernwood School 'Design Day', which Kerry supported.

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No doubt teachers are faced with many opportunities to develop new projects within their subject; as someone with a passion for Design and Technology I am always looking to establish links with schools and to further share the creative work I am part of in my daily working environment.

If I can be of any help or support for project ideas you may have then always feel free to get in touch.

CONTACT KERRY:

kerry.truman@ntu.ac.uk @kerry_truman

For further information check out some of our concrete related blogs: Concrete Speaker Design at Nottingham Trent University

www.kitronik.co.uk/concretespeaker

NTU Design Technology Workshop – Concrete Mix And Make

www.kitronik.co.uk/concrete

Dixons Trinity Academy Product Design Build Concrete Speakers

www.kitronik.co.uk/dixonstrinity

MP3 MONO AUDIO AMPLIFIER KIT This kit is the ideal starting point for a concrete project!

www.kitronik.co.uk/2154 7

NEW! – LILYPAD LILYMINI PROTOSNAP The LilyMini ProtoSnap is a great way to start learning about creating interactive e-textile circuits before you start sewing.

Like other LilyPad ProtoSnap boards it has all of its pieces wired together out of the box, enabling testing of the circuit’s function before sewing.

At the heart of the board is a pre-programmed LilyMini micro-controller connected to a light sensor, button and two pairs of LEDs. The pre-loaded code uses all of the parts connected to it and has three modes (explained right), which can be selected by pressing the button.

The board has a built-in battery holder for a CR2032 battery (included). The board can also be powered through the micro USB port (cable sold separately) while connected to a computer for reprogramming. It can be used with the built-in code, or can be reprogrammed using the Arduino system.

The built-in RGB LED on the LilyMini will change colour to indicate which mode has been selected:

White: Magenta:

Cyan:

www.kitronik.co.uk/46109 Description

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LilyPad LilyMini ProtoSnap

46109

£12.50

£10.50

NEED INSPIRATION? Then check out these fantastic handcrafted E-Textiles bags: www.kitronik.co.uk/etextilesbags 8

All LEDs on.

LEDs fade in and out in a breathing pattern.

When the light sensor is covered, LEDs fade faster.

LEDs off. When the light sensor is covered, LEDs will twinkle.

With our Electro-Fashion range, students can easily introduce LEDs to textiles projects.

The system works by using conductive thread, which sews like normal thread but conducts electricity like wire.

Need help or inspiration? See our wide range of E-Textiles tutorials and resources to help you get started: www.kitronik.co.uk/ etextilestutorials

To light an LED conductive thread is used to create a circuit by sewing a cell holder to the LED. Slide the cell into the holder to light the LED. Switches may also be introduced to the E-Textile circuit. The LED(s) can be activated by the push of a button, a slide of a switch, a magnetic connection, a gentle tilt, or, even, as darkness is detected. See our full range at:

Example projects www.kitronik.co.uk/electrofashion

AUDIO ACCESSORIES NEW! – ‘HAMBURGER’ MINI SPEAKER This 3W Mini Speaker is a great, economical speaker option for any project needing stand-alone sound within a small footprint. It is also an ideal speaker choice for BBC micro:bit projects as it will work directly with our audio cable for the BBC micro:bit (see below).

The speaker features a built-in rechargeable lithium polymer battery for portable applications, a 3.5mm stereo jack for connecting to the audio source and has two volume options (quiet and loud). www.kitronik.co.uk/3340 Description

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‘Hamburger’ Mini Speaker

3340

£4.95

AUDIO CABLE FOR BBC MICRO:BIT Simply connect the crocodile clips to the BBC micro:bit, plug headphones into the 3.5mm socket you are ready to code some music. www.kitronik.co.uk/5622 Description

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Audio Cable for BBC micro:bit

5622

£2.20

£1.80

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE

BBC micro:bit AT... www.kitronik.co.uk/microbit 10

NEW! – NEOPIXELS LEDs What's better for a project than pulsing colourful miniature LEDs? Not a lot and that's why we now carry a range of NeoPixels lines.

The colour and brightness of each individual LED can be controlled separately.

They are chainable from one to the next so you can power and program a long line of NeoPixels together to form an endless (or almost endless) string of LEDs that can all be controlled via a single output pin on your microcontroller (such as the BBC micro:bit).

Find out more about the NeoPixels LED range at

NeoPixel Jewel (35130)

www.kitronik.co.uk/neopixels

Smart NeoPixel (35131)

NeoPixel Ring (35128)

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NeoPixel Jewel - 7 x 5050 RGB LED with Integrated Drivers

35130

£4.73

Breadboard-friendly RGB Smart NeoPixel - Pack of 4

35131

£6.36

NeoPixel Ring - 16 x 5050 RGB LED with Integrated Drivers

35128

£7.95

BBC micro:bit LAP COUNTER FOR SCALEXTRIC-LIKE TRACK Find out how it is possible to build a BBC micro:bit powered lap counter for a Scalextric type car in this detailed blog article: www.kitronik.co.uk/scalextric 11

FREE RESOURCE www.kitronik.co.uk/3dprintedbluetooth A resource designed to show how you can use our Bluetooth amplifier kit as the basis for a 3D printing project.

Bluetooth stereo amplifier kits are available from ÂŁ15.00. www.kitronik.co.uk/2160

3D PRINTED BLUETOOTH SPEAKER

FREE SAMPLES Request your free sample Kitronik project kit by phone, email or online at:

www.kitronik.co.uk/services/samples

The samples service is available for any self assembly electronic kit which is marked as exclusive to Kitronik (excludes any kit where the price for one is over ÂŁ8)

All prices shown are exclusive of VAT, delivery charge may be applicable.

T: 0845 8380781 | 0115 9704243 A: Kitronik Unit 3a, Shipstones Business Centre, North Gate, Nottingham, NG7 7FN W: www.kitronik.co.uk E: sales@kitronik.co.uk

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