PS9886 Making and Tinkering Lite

Course Summary

This course is a lightweight module that aims to teach students about basic electronics and 3D printing. You will learn how to make various models in CAD softare as well as build your own 3D printer. You will learn how to program an Arduino, which is used to control the operations of the printer.

Workload

Since this is a 2AU module, the workload is pretty light and there isn't much homework if any. It is a 3 hour per week lab session where all the teaching as well as practicals are conducted. The classes are pretty fun and Tony is a great instructor and the TAs are also fun to talk to. It does require some coding and reading of schematics but everything will be taught in class.

Projects

The final project is to build your own printer, which you sadly cannot bring back home, and print your own 3D model that you have made yourself or downloaded from the internet. This does involve a bit of soldering and electrical work so do be careful during lab.

Things to take note of

There is some element of danger involved as wrongly connected electronics can explode (Tony will blow up a capacitor in class). You will also be working with soldering irons, which are hot and can burn you.

This is also a 2 AU module so do take care to plan your courses appropriately. There is a "full" version of the course available as well but it goes more in-depth on the designing and electronics part.

Conclusion

If you like assembling Ikea furniture or playing with electronics, then this is the course for you.