Paper Circuit Explorations: Rural & Tribal Library Toolkit Project Phase 2

Hi everyone!

We’re branching out :palm_tree: our activity remixes for PLIX Rural & Tribal Library Toolkit Development: Phase 2 Explorations. This thread is a sandbox :beach_umbrella: for @Bbolton, @Genea, @katywarren, and @Jhayden to share, explore, and remix :zap: Paper Circuits for their library patrons and community.

Feel free to say hi :wave: and respond to their explorations!

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Made some Valentine’s Pop Up Cards.

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Light up pop up cards YES! :zap: :heartpulse: :gift: !!

@Jhayden This is AWESOME. I’ve struggled making pop-ups +paper circuits in the past, but you’ve given me hope that it’s definitely possible :smiley: If you make more of these moving forward in your tinkering process, I would love to see how you set up the circuitry! Thanks so much for sharing; such a great remix.

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Just a couple of ways.

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Hi everyone!

I just have gotten a chance to start tinkering with our stuff… It’s been quite a busy few weeks here!

I was wondering… What is the shiny aluminum foil tape for?

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@Bbolton The aluminum foil tape is an alternative to the copper tape. Sometimes people want wider strips of tape (or even other shapes), plus it’s a less pricey option if people want to get their own.

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Oh, I see. Thank you so much, Ada!

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My first project was Iron Man (nerd alert!). I ended up making the corner battery fold a little too deep, so I had to use a bigger binder clip. Otherwise, for my first time playing, it was super fun!! The copper tape was a bit sticky (ha) to work with at first, but I quickly got used to it.

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@Bbolton You did it! It’s so good!! Are the LEDs poking through the picture? Or just sitting under it?

@ada They are poking through! I believe the actual image is helping the glow a lot.

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Agreed. This picture of iron man is so perfect for this.

Thinking of other superheroes, Vision has the mind stone that could be an LED, but he’s a far less exciting character.

That was actually my first idea!! I was initially pondering what Avenger could potentially “glow”, and Vision’s mind stone popped into my head first, and then as I was cooking dinner I was like “Wait, Iron Man!!” haha.

I thought about doing the “I am Iron Man” scene with the glowing infinity gauntlet, but I would need a purple and an orange LED, lol.

It’s so much fun!

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Ooo infinity gauntlet! I’m gonna try putting nail polish on the clear LEDs to see if it works. BRB

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Hahaha! Let me know how it goes! :blush:

OMG it works! :star_struck:

Green nail polish on clear/white LED! It’s a tiny little less bright without the nail polish but it has a fun stained glass effect IRL.

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I would never have thought to put nail polish on an LED. I like it!

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After trying out your activity, how will you remix?

  • What did you find most enjoyable? Which elements were challenging? What are you excited to explore next?
  • Which focus strategy (passive programming / take-n-make kits / locally relevant remixes / extended interaction plan) are you exploring to adapt / remix the activity? How does this connect to your community or context?
  • What are some concrete next steps to take for rolling out this activity with your patrons?

These questions will help guide your project plan in the coming weeks.

I won’t lie, it has been crazy here with getting February programs going and getting our SRP dates down to ensure we have performers. That being said, I haven’t gotten quite as far as I hoped with the remix on this. Our crazy weather here in NC (snow/ice 3 weekends in a row!) has unfortunately thrown a small wrench in my original plan :woman_facepalming:t3:. However I do know that we are doing our paper circuits on a saturday and we are labeling it as “Stem Saturday” with this being a tween/teen program this time around. We are making March a STEM month here, and I had hoped to run this program the 5th, but with the weather we have had the parks and rec basketball games get rescheduled for that weekend now, which would occupy a lot of the age group I am trying to bring in (plus now I have to also be at basketball as well).

I’m really loving the pop-up cards, and think the difficulty is spot on for the age range…I just don’t know what the card should look like…

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Just saw this video in the Chibitronics newsletter (founded by the same research who created the Paper Circuits activity)–it reminded me of your pop-up cards, @Jhayden! Here’s another clever switch mechanism involving a card.

For anyone interested, you can find the full newsletter here.

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