No electronics experience is necessary for this class! Basic knowledge of conductors and insulators is the important bit, though an understanding of transistors and Ohm's Law would help if you want to grok how the finished circuit works. 

Starting around 3pm, we'll take you through the following steps:

• Start with a circuit schematic on paper. (we'll be using a simple LED flasher)
• Turn that into a schematic in electronic design software
• Create a board layout for the circuit
• Print the layout (we'll do this for each student who wants one)

Then each student will build their own circuit, through this process:

• Transfer the printed layout to a piece of copper-clad circuit board material
• Etch the board, chemically removing copper and leaving just the requisite traces
• Clean the etched board, and apply a tin plating which makes soldering easier
• Drill holes for component mounting
• Stuff components into the board, and solder them (no soldering experience necessary)
• Test the finished circuit

This will probably take several hours, hence the early start. By the end of the night, you should have a working LED flasher and a pretty thorough understanding of the design-build process! Ambitious? Yes! Come join us.

Note: A $5 materials fee is required if you want to take your board home. Donations beyond that are happily accepted. i3Detroit is a non-profit workshop funded by dues and donations, and your generosity allows us to offer more classes like this.