Crowdfunding Circuit Scribe
I first found out about Circuit scribe through Electoninks Kickstarter , Circuit Scribe: Draw Circuits Instantly, which raised a total of $674,425 from 12, 277 backers. I was immediately fascinated by the idea. Electroninks describes Circuit Scribe as “a rollerball pen that writes with conductive silver ink. [That] makes creating circuits as easy as doodling.” As someone who’s always been interested in technology and art this seemed like a dream come true. The few times I’ve worked with electronics in the past were extremely frustrating largely due to the endless tracking down of bad connections in breadboards, and this seemed to solve that very problem. However, when I started reading about the more specialized applications the idea only seemed to get better. Wide appeal and a wide variety of uses is probably, at least partially, why it was such a successful campaign.
How does it work?
The pen contains a proprietary formulation of silver ink. Since silver conducts electricity, lines drawn with the pen essentially act as wires. Additionally, Electronink has developed electornic components that magnetically snap into drawn circuits.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
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Prototyping
One of the areas that this technology has huge potential for is prototyping, more specifically rapid prototyping. It allows people to go straight from diagram to working model with the addition of a few components. Easily lending itself to the maker movement and hardware revolutions. Cheap, affordable, fast, these are the qualities that lower entrance barrier for creators.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ animation=”none” column_padding=”padding-4-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″][vc_column_text]
Education
This technology has a lot of potential to change the way electronics are taught, both formally and informally. Textbooks could contain working circuits, or be transformed into workbooks with magnetic components. Younger children could use this technology, since no soldering or sharp wires are involved. Due to its simplicity and easy of use it encourages learning through exploration and creativity instead of memorization and formulation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]