Class Schedule 2012

Boot Camp (Jan 9-18)

Digital Fabrication Principles and Practices (Jan 18)

• 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 25)

• 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 (Feb 1)

• 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 8th)

• Design and create a project on the laser cutter and / or vinyl cutter.

Electronics Production (Feb 15)

• 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 22)

• Learn to make something big out of wood on the Shopbot CNC router

Electronics Design (Feb 29)

• Learn to modify one of our existing electronics “hello world” examples or create  your own project.

Molding, Casting and Composites (Mar 7)

•  Learn how to create detailed molds from machinable wax and make casts from             them.
• Create composite parts or structures

Embedded Programming (Mar 14)

•  Learn to program AVR micorcontrollers.

3D Scanning and Printing (Mar 21)

• 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 28)

• Learn to make a circuit board with a input sensor (light, switches, temperature or    ultrasonic, etc.)

Interface and Application Programming (Apr 4)

• Learn to visualize the output of a sensor board (that you build in the previous input devices unit).

Output Devices (Apr 11)

•  Learn to control a output device (LED’s, speaker, video or motors)

Mechanical Design (Apr 18)

• 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 25)

• Learn to make devices that talk to each other. (serial bus, radio or infrared)

Machine Design (May 2)

• 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 9)

• 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 16)

• 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 23)

• Guest lectures from experts in the field.
• Students work on their final projects

Final Project Presentations (May 30)

• Labs around the world meet to present their final projects.