Lightning Talks

My most successful and widespread Open Hardware project did so without me knowing it was happening. I’ll tell the story of how a video game accessory I developed for a friend, came back into my life in a few unexpected ways.

A short journey through designing a Simple Add-On (SAO), from concept to finished PCB. We’ll explore what designs work well, open-source tools, real manufacturing results, power and component choices, and practical sizing. Finally, we’ll discuss whether an SAO should double as a soldering kit—and for whom it makes sense.

The Bambu Lab Era is making older 3D printers “obsolete,” but unlike closed-source proprietary junk, these aren’t e-waste. Because they’re mostly open hardware, they are goldmines of reusable parts. Inside every dusty 3d printer are stepper motors, bearings, rails, belts, rods, controllers, and switches. Standard parts that projects like BrailleRAP, ReCreator, and Artme3D use to turn “junk” into meaningful tools. Let’s harvest, not discard.

What visual possibilities do we unlock by replacing design software with commonplace hardware? The answer could lie somewhere between wiring up a simple joystick to inform real-time graphics and letting a basic potentiometer shape typographic letterforms. While the crossover between graphic design and physical circuitry remains largely experimental, it stands testament to how novel processes can lead to novel outcomes for both domains.

BlueSky