PROJECTS: Squishy Tech
to your receiver coil: an LED, a motor, even a
small circuit board. Rather than using large
5mm or even 3mm LEDs, I use 1206-size
surface mount LEDs that provide a much
smaller point of light. One of my favorite
techniques for DIY coils is to embroider the
coil onto a textile, like these from Kobakant
(Figure
K
). Simply solder an LED to the ends
of the coil as you did in the previous example.
• Transmitters — These are a bit more limited.
I’ve had some luck with experimenting by
cutting off and reattaching larger coils. It’s
important to keep an eye on the voltage
rating for your transmitter. Larger coils might
require more power to get the results you’re
looking for. I’ve had best results with these
AN-100 radio loops made for AM radios
(Figure
L
), soldered to a 12V, long distance
transmitter. I think they’re great for inductive
adornments because these coils are beautiful
and can fit over your head!
or 5V (Figure
I
), which you can use to power
anything by connecting the receiver output coil
to whatever you want. Once you’re comfortable
with these out-of-the-box solutions, you can start
experimenting a bit more.
My go-to for this type of exploration is always
AliExpress, where you can find a wide variety
of transmitters and receivers at different
voltages and sizes (Figure
J
). I recommend
experimenting with both transmitter and receiver
coil shapes; you’ll find they all react differently.
• Receivers — As we’ve seen, you can make
your own coils but premade coils have much
more even and consistent winding. I’ve tried
several winding jigs and can safely say there’s
nothing like a professionally machine-wound
coil. These coils come in SMD, through-hole,
and individually wound formats with a variety
of sizes and shapes. They’re pretty affordable,
so I recommend buying a few and playing.
Anything you want to power, you can solder
I
K
J
L
Lee Wilkins, Kobakant, AliExpress
Lee Wilkins
74 makezine.com
M81_070-77_SquishyTech_Lee_F1.indd 74M81_070-77_SquishyTech_Lee_F1.indd 74 4/12/22 12:12 PM4/12/22 12:12 PM
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