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Another 'Draw Your Own Circuits' System at SXSW (Video)
While Timothy Lord was at SXSW, he chatted with Yuki Nishida of AgIC and learned about the company's conductive ink products. But AgIC wasn't the only company at SXSW showing off conductive ink. You could also meet the Electroninks people and see their Circuit Scribe product, which had a Kickstarter campaign a while back that raised $574,425.
This kind of product seems to be attractive to the kind of people who fund Kickstarter projects, and this bunch seems to have good resumes and some interesting, well thought-out products. There is apparently room in the 'draw circuits and learn electrical basics' market for both AgIC and Electroninks -- and probably for another dozen competitors, too.
This kind of product seems to be attractive to the kind of people who fund Kickstarter projects, and this bunch seems to have good resumes and some interesting, well thought-out products. There is apparently room in the 'draw circuits and learn electrical basics' market for both AgIC and Electroninks -- and probably for another dozen competitors, too.
As demonstrated by Terl.
Both companies seem to be differentiating themselves effectively. ElectronInks is focusing more on educational materials, and AgIC is producing printer cartridges and specialized paper that might suggest a more professional customer base. Would love to see both of these companies succeed.
because the ink layer is so thin, these circuits have an incredible amount of resistance, even with really fat lines.
I have one of these pens and it is a fun novelty, but not useful for practical circuits. The metal content isn't high enough. It's better applied to art projects and for kids teaching where you can show them a lot of circuit concepts in a very visual manner. That's where I felt this product would excel. If you drag a lead to a lightbulb over a 10" line, depending on how thick it is the bulb will be completely out either in a few inches or with a fat line over the whole length.
A version where you squired a lot more of the material with a thickener out of a mustard type squeeze bottle would get you some more functionality. But it's fun for the kids.
And this article has a big black box that tells me I need a flash player.
First quality two-layer PCBs, gold flashed with solder mask and silk screen both sides, are available within 10-14 days for $5.00 per square inch, and for that price you get three of them . Four-layer boards are $10/in^2. I've made my own PCBs using a variety of techniques in the past, and have breadboarded and wire wrapped dozens of boards. But with the price of real circuit boards where it is, I have no reason to do so again. These DIY systems are clever, but I just can't see how they qualify as practical.
I wonder if one could draw or print a circuit, then coat it to be thicker. For example, we know if you lay a cheap circuit board with copper traces into a pan of melted solder, the solder will only stick to the copper traces, making them thicker while rolling right off the bare board. Perhaps a copper based pen/marker could be used in that way. You'd prefer something more convenient than melting enough solder to the bottom of a pan, but the general concept make work.
Along the same lines, when I was a little kid I attached a battery to a copper penny and a quarter, then left them in water overnight. That resulted in electroplating the quarter with copper. It would therefore be possible to draw or print your circuit, then easily electroplate it with pure, low-resistance copper. I think electroplating applies a very thin layer. You might need it thicker, so again that concept would need to be refined.