Don’t forget that Sunday, 10/23, we have two back-to-back excellent workshops at Resistor: Alexis’s HTML5/CSS3 deep-dive workshop (sold out), followed by pumpkin hacking for Halloween.

The pumpkin party starts at 4pm. Please register (free!) on Eventbrite to RSVP. We’re thinking circuits, laser cutting, and maybe more.

We have a very small number of pumpkins available, along with cutting tools. Please BYOPumpkin. If you’ve got orange or purple LEDs or weirdo electronic components (or UV LEDs?!), bring those. We wouldn’t say no to contributions of snacks or tasty libations, either.

Photo: Trammell Hudson

This week come craft yourself a new liver at Not-NYCResistor!! Craft night is CANCELED this week (Oct. 13th) but we’ll all be at Pacific Standard just around the corner.

Why is craft night canceled?

Because we said so. Also because we are getting the space all painted so it looks shiny and new for NEXT craft night.

So, to recap:

Please DO NOT show up to NYCResistor on Oct. 13th but DO go drink yourself silly at Pacific Standard. It’s a nice bar, once they let us bring our robot over. Please DO come back on Oct. 20th in the newly painted spaced when craft night will resume at NYCResistor with the candlestick and Prof. Plum. Ms. Peacock will also be in attendance.

Very truly yours,

NYCResistor

We’re throwing a Halloween pumpkin-hacking party! We’ll be making pumpkins light up and react to touch sensing or maybe motion. We’re also thinking up pumpkin-y desserts featuring cooking those gourds with lasers and fire. Who’s in?

Bring your own pumpkin, with the seeds already scooped out. (We’ll have an extra or two, but you’ll have much more time to enjoy circuitbending your pumpkin if you come prepared.) Please also bring your own LEDs and any project components you might want to use. We’ve got plenty of soldering equipment.

Join us on Sunday, October 23rd, from 4-8pm. Space is limited, so get your (free) tickets here

Photo by Windell Oskay of Evil Mad Scientist Labs.

The Resistor JelTone is an edible and playable toy piano created by NYC Resistor members Ranjit Bhatnagar, Astrida Valigorsky, Mimi Hui and Catarina Mota for the annual Gowanus Studio Jello Mold Competition.

As part of our investigation into the properties of Jello– we realized that both jello and fruit, are conductive. To create the Jeltone, we fabricated several flavors (tangerine, coconut, greentea, etc.) of Jello in key-shaped slabs. Each key was then perched atop a food safe sterling silver pin connected to an Arduino microcontroller (hidden conveniently underneath the piano’s lasercut acrylic base).  To complete the circuit, and play a noise, a metal utensil can be connected to the Arduino, or it can be played with gloves enhanced with conductive thread. Bare hands can also play the jeltone by touching both a key and the piano’s case at the same time. Alternately you can also make the Jeltone using slabs of  fruit.

If you’d like to make your own, you can get the project files, code and instructions from Thingiverse.

JelTones were exhibited on June 25th at the 2011 Solid Sound Festival, Mass MoCA and at the Jello Mold Competition (where it was awarded the creativity prize and was both played with and devoured by the exhibit visitors).

Today 10/3 Laser Night is cancelled due to a fire two weeks ago in our Laser.  Parts were delayed at the supplier, and arrive tomorrow. We should be back up for Craft Night this week, check here for status after tomorrow.
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