Location: Digital Fab Lab (Create Makerspace) | #1-39449 Queens Way, Squamish, BC, V8B0R5

Description:

Get an introduction to Digital Fabrication while building your own personal display! This five-week course is designed as an overview to the various areas of Digital Fabrication: Laser Cutting, 3D Printing, Electronics, and Coding. Each session covers a new area, and builds upon the knowledge you gain to create a finished product. Successfully completing this course enables you to use all the areas of the Digital Fab Lab.

What You'll Make

A Personalized Digital Dashboard - customize your LED display to show the time, weather, countdowns, lamp modes, and more! Switch through your displays at the touch of a button. 

A plywood-framed LED display with a 3D printed housing, driven by an ESP32 microcontroller. The project introduces laser cutting, circuit building, microcontroller programming, and CAD modelling in sequence, with each week's work feeding into the next.

All materials are included in the course registration cost, and students take the finished dashboard home.

What You'll Learn

• Laser cutter orientation and safety practices
• Designing and preparing files for laser cutting
• Reading and building a simple circuit
• Using a multimeter to measure voltage, resistance, and continuity
• Using electronics hand tools
• Introduction to ESP32 microcontrollers and simple coding
• CAD modelling and preparing files for 3D printing
• Troubleshooting and final assembly

Weekly Structure (At a Glance)

• Week 1: Laser cutter orientation and safety. Customize your frame and cut the plywood pieces.
• Week 2: Electronics safety, circuit building, and multimeter use. Wire the LED matrix and microcontroller.
• Week 3: Introduction to coding. Customize the display screens.
• Week 4: 3D printer orientation and safety. Add designs to the electronics housing lid in CAD and print a keychain.
• Week 5: Final assembly, code adjustments, and troubleshooting.

Certification & Shop Access

Upon successful completion, participants are certified for independent use of the Create Makerspace laser cutters and 3D printers, within the scope of the tools covered in this course, and will have completed an electronics safety orientation. Note that this class does not cover the soldering iron, and separate certification is required for this tool.

Who This Class Is For

• Beginners with little to no prior experience in digital fabrication
• Makers looking to build confidence with the laser cutter, 3D printer, or electronics prototyping
• Anyone interested in making something new!

No previous experience required. We recommend basic computer skills: opening and saving files, and using a mouse.

Available spots: 5

Price: $390.00 Taxes not included

Required age: Over 16 years old on the day of the activity

Prerequisites: None

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