We started by soldering the breadboards on a piece of perfboard. Lots of female pinheaders were used for making the holes on the breadboard and a 3V button cell was also included in order to provide power on the move. After all the detailed soldering it was time to make a wristband (or a belt) for the board using ribbon cable or by weaving wire. Different color options were available for the wires and cables for a personalized look, and sturdy connectors ensured that the band would stay firmly closed. This was essential, as the band served as both a strap and an on/off switch for the board.
Once the breadboard was ready and powered up with the button cell, we tried out constructing an example miniature circuit on the board. The circuit consisted of an ATtiny85 microcontroller, LEDs, resistors, a speaker and jumper wires. The ATtiny was pre-programmed with a code which created random LED blinks and tones with random frequencies, all within random durations. But this was of course just the beginning, as the wearable breadboards are open-ended by nature and provide infinite possibilities for prototyping. Make lights blink, play square waves or create geeky a binary watch which no-one else can understand – only the sky is the limit!
Thank you to the good-humored participants who worked hard in order to finish their intricate breadboards and to Niklas Roy for helping out with the workshop. Special thanks also to Conrad for sponsoring the workshop materials.