Join us May 18-21 in New York City for a series of hands-on workshops bringing together leading experts from digital design and fabrication. These workshops—on the topics of Digital Tools, Fab On-Demand, and Cloud-Based Apps—will bring designers up to speed on the latest software, and will show you how to harness fabrication technology to bring your ideas to reality.

designx.is

DesignX is geared toward innovative designers, manufacturers, representatives and anyone who is interested in learning about the digital tools and technology trends that are revolutionizing design today. Join us for an inspiring four days of educational programming and networking events led by industry experts in the fields of digital design and fabrication.

We had a great group of participants for the Crafting Material Effects workshop last weekend at TexFab4. Great work everyone! More images of the workshop can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiomode/sets/72157632919067820/

1. Go to tinypass.com and log in. You should have received an “Access Granted” email from them on February 13th. This would have gone to whichever email address you used for Paypal in our old system. Don’t forget to check your spam folders.
2. After successfully logging in, you will see your TinyPass Dashboard. You can modify the temporary password and your profile settings here.
3. Browse to your content on our site and scroll down. (Each email notification from TinyPass granting you access would have also included a direct link to the course page.)
4. Click the already purchased link. A popup window will then be displayed.
5. Use your TinyPass User and Password to log in.
6. Upon success, the TinyPass popup window will confirm that you have access and click “Let’s Go.”
7. The entirety of the page and content will be revealed from there.
8. Enjoy! If you have any questions. Feel free to shoot us a line.

Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under theGNU General Public License.

Blender’s popularity and faithful following has been growing rapidly since it’s first release in 1998. This has lead to a large number of individually run websites, many of which focus towards blender. Here is a selection of the websites dedicated towards helping the community:

User Community

Professionals
Artists
Educational
Forums

Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language(based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based onProcessing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software on running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP).

“The boards can be built by hand or purchased preassembled; the software can be downloaded for free.”

The Arduino team is: Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, Gianluca Martino, and David Mellis.

Lumenlab’s micRo is a gantry robot; a gantry robot carries a tool in 3 dimensions. Gantry robots are used for high-tech manufacturing and art. Lumenlab’s micRois a small gantry robot that can fit on your desk or workbench.

micRo is a modular manufacturing platform that accepts numerous tools:

_ Milling
_ Routing
_ 3D deposition printing
_ Plotting

Lumenlab hosts a strong community of DIY tinkerers and innovators. Lumenlab’s blog contains a shared gcode library and distributed manufacturing support site.

This machine has been used extensively in our studio with excellent results. Check out the following links to see images of our KNK-MAXX24 in-action, as well as some of the fabrication possibilities made possible by this awesome machine.

For more information (and to buy one!) browse to the Klic-N-Kut Website.

“This emerging architecture places broadly defined performance above form making; it utilizes digital technologies of quantitative and qualitative performance-based simulation to offer a comprehensive approach to the design of the build environment.”

The emphasis on building performance is now redefining expectations of the building design, its process and practice.By bringing together the leading architects, engineers and technologists, the book will explore current and future developments in performance-based design. It is aimed at both professional and academic audiences and will cover a wide range of themes.

Find it on Amazon.

“With inexpensive hardware and open-source software components that you can download free, getting started with Arduino is a snap. To use the introductory examples in this book, all you need is a USB Arduino, USB A-B cable, and an LED.”

Join the tens of thousands of hobbyists who have discovered this incredible (and educational) platform. Written by the co-founder of the Arduino project, with illustrations by Elisa Canducci, Getting Started with Arduino gets you in on the fun! This 128-page book is a greatly expanded follow-up to the author’s original short PDF that’s available on the Arduino website.

Inside, you’ll learn about:

• Interaction design and physical computing
• The Arduino hardware and software development environment
• Basics of electricity and electronics
• Prototyping on a solderless breadboard
• Drawing a schematic diagram

Find it on Amazon.

“With Make: Electronics, you’ll start working on real projects as soon as you crack open the book. Explore all of the key components and essential principles through a series of fascinating experiments.”

You’ll build the circuits first, then learn the theory behind them! Build working devices, from simple to complex. You’ll start with the basics and then move on to more complicated projects. Go from switching circuits to integrated circuits, and from simple alarms to programmable microcontrollers. Step-by-step instructions and more than 500 full-color photographs and illustrations will help you use — and understand — electronics concepts and techniques.

• Discover by breaking things: experiment with components and learn from failure
• Set up a tricked-out project space: make a work area at home, equipped with the tools and parts you’ll need
• Learn about key electronic components and their functions within a circuit
• Create an intrusion alarm, holiday lights, wearable electronic jewelry, audio processors, a reflex tester, and a combination lock
• Build an autonomous robot cart that can sense its environment and avoid obstacles
• Get clear, easy-to-understand explanations of what you’re doing and why

Find it on Amazon.