The course introduces the use of electronics and physical computing as a creative medium in the field of new media art. It covers some basic electronic concepts and theory, various analog circuits, prototyping your own circuits, microcontroller programming, and the basics of PCB design.
A critical insight into maker culture and the environmental impact of the electronics industry is introduced through readings, discussions, and examples.
This is not an engineering course. The course focuses on creative use of electronics and hardware hacking, not on the theory and the most efficient circuit design. The course will also go through some essential tips for safety, use of various tools, best practices, and how to take care of the equipment and facilities.
Schedule 2021
Details coming soon.
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Workshop Week
You can use the workshop week to finalize your project. We have the space next to Mechatronics booked for working on the course.
Prior Knowledge
Prior knowledge of electronics is not required, but it is recommended that you have some basic knowledge of programming.
You need to have completed Introduction to Creative Coding or some other basic programming course before taking this course.
General Course Guidelines
- This course focuses on projects based on stand-alone electronic projects (analog circuits and Arduino-based works).
- Try to focus on the electronics, Arduino programming, and physical computing side on your final project. Try to avoid working on a project that requires a computer to run. (Media Lab has many other courses that combine Pure Data, Processing, or other applications to your electronics projects. Let’s try to do something different here.)
- Although we do one very simple oscillator + audio amplifier project, this is not a synthesizer/noise making box workshop. You can work on something like that as your final project, but we are generally looking at things in a bit wider perspective. (Again, there is another course that focuses on experimental instruments)
- USING HIGH VOLTAGE AND/OR MAINS ELECTRICITY (230V AC in FInland) IS NOT ALLOWED. This is purely for safety reasons, since mains electricity can very easily be lethal if you don’t know what you are doing. We will be working only with fairly low DC voltages and low current.
- If you are planning on using anything above 12V of voltage or anything with current above 1 amp, make sure you double check your circuit with Matti.