Class Schedule 2013
Digital Fabrication Principles and Practices (Jan 23)
- 1st MIT lecture
- Learn about Fab Labs, the Fab Network and the Fab Charter
- Begin planning and documenting your final project.
Collaborative Technical Development, Documentation, and Project Management (Jan 23 ALSO)
- Intro to version control (Mecurial)
- Begin building a personal website / portfolio in your lab’s section of the class archive describing you and your final project
Computer-Aided Design, Manufacturing, and Modeling (Jan 30)
- Intro to 2D and 3D design software
- Model (draw, render, animate, simulate, …) a possible final project, and post it on your class page.
Comptuter-Controlled Cutting (Feb 6th)
- Design and create a project on the laser cutter and / or vinyl cutter.
Electronics Production (Feb 13)
- Each student will assemble their own fabbable in-system programmer (Fab ISP) for use in the class.
- Learn to mill boards on the milling machine
- Practice surface mount soldering techniques
- Program AVR microcontrollers
Computer-Controlled Machining (Feb 20)
- Learn to make something big out of wood on the Shopbot CNC router
Electronics Design (Feb 27)
- Learn to modify one of our existing electronics “hello world” examples or create your own project.
Molding, Casting and Composites (Mar 6)
- Learn how to create detailed molds from machinable wax and make casts from them.
- Create composite parts or structures
Embedded Programming (Mar 13)
- Learn to program AVR micorcontrollers.
3D Scanning and Printing (Mar 20)
- Learn how to turn a physical object into code
- Then learn how to take that code and print it as a physical object
Input Devices (Mar 27)
- Learn to make a circuit board with a input sensor (light, switches, temperature or ultrasonic, etc.)
Interface and Application Programming (Apr 3)
- Learn to visualize the output of a sensor board (that you build in the previous input devices unit).
Output Devices (Apr 10)
- Learn to control a output device (LED’s, speaker, video or motors)
Mechanical Design (Apr 17)
- Assemble a the mechanical structure of a machine designed by a MIT graduate student.
- Last year we made the MTM Snap-Lock milling machine.
Embedded Networking and Communications (Apr 24)
- Learn to make devices that talk to each other. (serial bus, radio or infrared)
Machine Design (May 1)
- Assemble a the electronics and program a machine designed by a MIT graduate student.
- Last year we made the MTM Snap-Lock milling machine.
Digital Fabrication Applications and Implications (May 8)
- Learn about the broader applications of digital fabrication and what Neil Gershenfeld and his graduate students at MIT are currently working on.
- Guest lectures from MIT grad students and other industry professionals.
Digital Fabrication Project Development (May 15)
- Using the skills you have learned, plan and document a final project that integrates at least two of the topics covered in the course.
- Students work on their final projects
Invention, Intellectual Property, and Business Models (May 22)
- Guest lectures from experts in the field.
- Students work on their final projects
Final Project Presentations (May 29)
- Labs around the world meet to present their final projects.