This page originally supported the Beambox Day (20 Dec 2015) held at Aotea Square, Auckland, NZ, and explains how to make a simple Beambox Transmitter and Receiver using a “Cardboard Electronics” format.
BeamboxBeambox was an interactive playground exhibit set up in Aotea Square in the heart of Auckland in December 2015. Seven boxes could be moved around a grid and interacted with each other using information beamed from one box to another. Here is a link to a website that gives more information and images of the Beambox exhibit:
https://colabarchive.aut.ac.nz/beambox/The Beamboxes communicated with each other using transmitter and receiver circuits I developed and these are shown on the “Sound via Light” webpage at:
https://www.burchill.nz/electronics-resources/sound-via-light/Subsequently, I made simpler versions of the transmitter and receiver and designed them using a cheap format which I call “Cardboard Electronics”.
Download this 42 second
video clip (5.4MB) that shows the transmitter and receiver working together:
Cardboard ElectronicsA circuit layout is glued onto corrugated cardboard using paper glue. When dried, a small screw driver or medium sized nail is used to push holes in the cardboard at circuit junction points. Brassed-steel paper fasteners are pushed into the holes, then splayed out underneath and tapped flat with a small hammer. Components and connecting wires are soldered to the paper fastener domes as seen in the photos above.
Transmitter and Receiver Circuit Diagrams
Transmitter and Receiver Layout Diagrams
Download an A4 template (368KB, Word docx format) of the below diagrams
here.
