Learning about electronics with squishy circuits

On Saturday afternoon, we held a very successful workshop on Squishy Circuits, a great tool to introduce children to electrical circuits.

We started the afternoon by learning how to make both conductive dough and insulating dough, and after a cool demonstration on using an Arduino together with a buzzer to test the dough resistance, we started making our own squishy circuits and other wonderful (sometimes!) creations using the 2 types of dough, LEDs and 9V batteries. Click on “continue reading” below to see a few pictures from the event!

Everyone had fun no matter their age, and I’d like to thank again all our awesome attendees, as well as our very cool teacher Tríona.

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Origami workshop

Curious about origami, whether you’ve never tried it before or are interested in learning new tricks and folds? Sign up for our hands-on origami workshop on Friday, July 8th, taught by Jamie O’Leary! We will start by learning how to do simple folds and shapes for beginners, then move on to more advanced stuff for people with previous knowledge (or innate talent!). Paper will be provided, books will be available, and advice freely handed. Everyone is welcome!

When? Friday, July 8th, from 7pm to 9pm
Cost: Free, and open to all — though please do register in advance, as space is limited (registration form below the picture)

The workshop is full! You can still sign up to be added to the waiting list, we’ll notify you if a space frees up. This also lets us know if there is interest in organising another similar event!

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Squishy Circuits Workshop

Tog will be hosting a Squishy Circuits workshop on Saturday 2nd of July, taught by Tríona O’Connell.

Squishy circuits are a great way to demonstrate electrical circuits to kids (and adults!).  It consists of a conductive dough and an insulating dough that are used in the building of circuits, along with batteries and more usual electrical components like motors and LEDs.

During the workshop, we will make some batches of both types of dough, and afterwards we’ll see some useful demos you can use to teach with it, and also have some hands-on fun building circuits.

Making the dough will involve lots of flour, so don’t wear your favourite black outfit, but apart from that there shouldn’t be too much of a mess.  There’ll be demonstrations of how you can use the dough to investigate resistance in a circuit.

And the fun part, building sculptures that incorporate electrics, or building giant squishy circuit boards.  You can bring your imagination and build whatever you fancy.  Tríona will be on hand to offer help or suggestions as needed.

Snail with LEDs made of conductive dough

This workshop is free to attend although registration is required, as space is limited. It will last about 2 hours, starting at 2:00pm. You can use the form below to register.

— The workshop is full! You can still sign up to be added to the waiting list, we’ll notify you if a space frees up (this also lets us know if there is interest in organising another similar event) —

What to bring? Bring a 9V battery. Optionally, if you’re already familiar with Arduinos you can bring your own (this is optional and there’ll be plenty to do without one!).

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2011-05-05 Electronics Bootcamp

We’re running our first electronics bootcamp. This event will take place over
5 weeks on Thursday evenings at TOG, from 19:00 to 21:30. First session
on Thursday 5th May.

This is a practical / hands-on introduction to electronics. Its suitable for
beginners, as no previous knowledge is required. If you’re curious about
electronics and don’t know where to start…. this is for you. No
soldering required, as we do everything on prototyping breadboards.
We’ll be building and testing circuits right from the first night. We’ll
be covering DC, AC, analog and digital electronics.

Over the 5 weeks, you’ll have a chance to play with multimeters,
oscilloscopes, signal generators and other electronic test equipment.
There’ll be lots of circuits to build and test along the way.

Cost is 50 euro for non-members. That’s just 10 euro per night. We have
a special rate of 40 euro for the unwaged.

If you’re interested, you can sign up below and you can pay on the first
night. There are 6 places available.

Course is now full, we will run it again in the future.

Dexy Documentation Hack Day

Tog will be hosting a Dexy Documentation Hack Day, led by the Dexy creator Ana Nelson. If you are interested in learning Dexy, while also contributing to an open source project, and having a fun day out with fellow geeks, then here is your chance!

The workshop will be held on Saturday, 26 March 2011 in Tog, from 10am till 5pm. This will be a hands-on hack day where we will be writing real documentation, so it’s a great chance to learn-by-doing. It’s absolutely free and will be lots of fun!

You don’t have to be an expert programmer, but you should be comfortable with the command line and have some programming experience. The signup form is over there: http://www.eventbrite.com/s/3wxR and also contains a bit more information. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments or get in touch with Ana.