Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Recycled Etcha-Sketcha

The "Recycled Etcha-Sketcha" is mostly made from found or broken electronics. The motors, potentiometers, knobs, and switches came from a broken vintage radio. The wire is from wire hangers, and the light bulb also comes from the radio. The circuits were built using a 555 timer. My favorite part of this project is the last switch on the board. I call it the "crazy switch". When it's turned on, all the electricity flows into the light and the motor, which controls the paper, causing the paper to retract really fast and the light to flash. There is a solenoid motor that also pushes the pen which came from a thrown out printer.