Resources

Geoff Hampson, one of our company directors, was charged with designing and building something iconic from the epic '80s. There are many things that spring to mind when you think about the '80s but if you were at school during this period, as I was, then you undoubtedly have a lot of memories of the Rubix cube craze. Challenge accepted!

MP Michelle Donelan has secured the support of almost 90 MP's for a proposed change to EBacc that would allow schools to class design and technology as a science and offer it as a choice to students.

Kevin and Tim were at NTU yesterday to see the fantastic projects that the students had created using products from our Electro Fashion range. Four ideas were presented on the day that were all excellent and all very different from each other. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring visit.

Robox Update Automaker To V2.01.02 . As CEL Robox have moved deeper into dual material printing, recent updates to their Automaker software have been geared towards facilitating this. There have been a number of multi-material related new features and a few days ago they updated Automaker to V2.01.02. This added another new feature for removing the gap between the support material and your part, when using a dual material head.

As Perspex is one of the most popular materials for Design and Technology we thought it would be interesting to share some facts that many people might not know. We've picked 8 things that we think many people won't know about this highly versatile and widely used design material. How many did you know?

I never expected to be thinking about work last weekend when I was at the East Midlands Flower Show, but when I saw the fantastic creations of Burned by Design and went over to have a closer look. It turned out that the owner, Alex, is a Design and Technology teacher.

The summer holidays are almost upon us and D&T Department stocks may be beginning to dwindle, so why not replenish D&T stocks before the summer to ensure the new school year gets off to a flying start.

In this tutorial we are going to highlight how easy it is to code the BBC micro:bit as an instrument tuner. We will focus mainly on making a Guitar tuner but we will also provide download links for several different types of tuner.

This week and next, armed with BBC micro:bits and accessories, Kitronik are breaking free from the office and attending fun education based events that are aimed at showing young people and educators that there is a world of opportunity out there for people with the right skills.

On Wednesday the 8th of June our very own Tim Goodman went to Nottingham Trent University with a small group of Design and Technology Teachers for a day designed to help them drive ideas forward. The course was hosted by Nottingham Trent University's Kerry Truman and began with a briefing on all the different opportunities there at NTU for such learning.

In this tutorial we are going to look at how to control a servo using the BBC micro:bit via an Edge Connector Breakout Board for the BBC micro:bit. It’s super simple to set up and requires very few parts.

Our veneered MDF sheets have been very popular, but we've been asked many times to sell veneer on it's own. We're happy to introduce two new flexible wood veneers, and we got Kevin to tell us about the in this video.

We've sold 0.8mm Polypropylene Sheets for some time now, and have often been asked about thinner sizes. We've now introduced a range which is just 0.5mm thick.

This Pedestrian Crossing project was submitted to us by Thomas Stratford. Thomas started this project to try out the pre-written code that came with the IET Pedestrian Crossing resource. The aim is to use the BBC micro:bit to develop a prototype for a pedestrian crossing for a local secondary school.

Our good friend Andy Thompson recently got in touch to tell us about a Key Stage 2 D&T training day that he is running on July 8th at Highgate School in London. This ‘hands-on’ event is specifically designed to help Primary School colleagues with limited resources and/or training opportunities to build confidence in the use of tools, equipment and materials.

Take the BBC micro:bit to the next level with Bluetooth Low Energy. The BBC micro:bit uses Bluetooth Low Energy, a power friendly version of Bluetooth technology that allows for wireless communication between devices such as PCs, smartphones and tablets allowing for seamless connection to the Internet of things. Every smartphone and tablet platform available comes with Bluetooth Low Energy API's. Android, iOs, Windows Phone, BlackBerry 10 and even Tizen. We explore some of the Bluetooth Low Energy functionality of the BBC micro:bit and the possibilities that it opens up.

Add light sensing to functionality to the BBC micro:bit is incredibly easy if you use the Light Sensing board from our Electro-Fashion range. Learn how to add light sensing to the BBC micro:bit with this very simple tutorial.

In this tutorial you will find Experiment 7 Wind Power from the Kitronik Inventors Kit for the BBC micro:bit. We've included the entire experiment as a free example of the great practical experiments that are contained within the Inventors Kit. Learn how to build the circuit and how to code the BBC micro:bit to control the circuit.

To highlight the range of possibilities that using the MI:power board to power your micro:bit opens up, we've created some free laser cutter files that you can download and use with your own laser cutter. All of the designs fit directly to the MI:power board and increase both the portability and the potential uses for your micro:bit.