Physical Computing Lab
- About the Physical Computing Lab
- Soldering & Electronics Bench
- What is on the electronics bench?
- What is on the soldering bench?
- How to soldering properly
- Component Spinner Guide
- Electronics Fabrication Tips, Tools and Resources
- Useful learning resources
- Where to buy components
- Hackspaces & Services
- What components are available?
About the Physical Computing Lab
The Physical Computing Lab is located on the 5th floor of Peckham Road, in PR_B502.
Opening Hours
Open | Staffed | |
---|---|---|
Monday | 08:00–21:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
Tuesday | 08:00–21:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
Wednesday | 08:00–21:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
Thursday | 08:00–21:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
Friday | 08:00–21:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
Saturday | 10:00–18:00 | Unstaffed |
Sunday | Closed | Closed |
Soldering & Electronics Bench
There are 3 fully kitted out electronics test benches at CCI as well as a number of on-demand soldering kits that can be setup anywhere.
What is on the electronics bench?
There are a number of electronics benches available with soldering facilities as described above, as well as other test equiptment:
- Rigol MSO5072 Mixed Signal Oscilloscope
- Rigol DS1202Z-E Digital Oscilloscope
- Rigol DM3058E Bench Multimeter
- Rigol DP831 Linear DC Power Supply
- Rigol DP711 Linear DC Power Supply
- EXTECH EX310 Hand-held Multimeter
What is on the soldering bench?
There are a number of Hakko FX-951 temprature controlled soldering stations available, the soldering irons are only to be used for lead free soldering, CCI provides lead-free rosin-free solder.
There is no cost to using the soldering irons at CCI, the tips, solder, wire, and other common consumables like LEDs, resistors, headers, etc... are provided within reason.
How to soldering properly
For the beginner who just started physical computing, there is always an unavoidable challenge - "How to solder?" On this page, we will try to show you the basic knowledge of how to solder, what equipment we have, and what the general process you can do in CCI.
If you wanna learn more details, Adafruit has a nice instruction Adafruit Guide To Excellent Soldering
Tools you can find in CCI
Third hand Grip your pieces while you soldering |
Soldering Iron Professional-style temperature-controlled iron |
Solder |
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|
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Snip Trim leads after soldering / Pre-cut the plastic part before the desoldering |
Soldering Sucker Remove excess solder / Des-older a joint |
Solder Wick Clean excess solder / Soak up the molten solder |
Desoldering gun Remove molten solder from a joint. |
PCB Guillotine Cut the PCB board |
If you want to know more about the tools, here is another video about handheld tools for electronics.
Preparation
- Wear the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)/Safty goggles (You can find them in the draw under the electronics benches)
- Turn on the soldering iron (You will hear the bib sound when it reaches the state temperature), clean it, and tin the tip
- Make sure the joints are clean
- Immobilize the joint
- Steady the board
- Breadboard
For the new chips, you might need the assistance of a breadboard. Cut the right amount of pins and insert them into the board - Long Pins Down
- Stripboard/Portboard
It's better to draw a diagram before you start, which could easily figure out how much stripboard you need (Don't waste!) and you can cut the board down to the size by the PCB Guillotine.
For the stripboard and protoboard, you need a third hand to provide the board moving around while soldering.
- Breadboard
How to solder
Once all of the components are immobilized, you are ready to soldering. It only takes 4 easy steps to get a nice solder joint. Here is a video for "How to soldering properly!"
Example of Soldering Joints
A good soldering joint should be:
- Smooth, bright and Clean
- Neat concave fillet
- Complete, solid solder wetting
Solder wetting refers to the stage in the process where the solder metal bonds with the metal surfaces on the printed circuit board (PCB) or component. This process involves the solder transitioning into a molten, fluid state, allowing it to properly adhere to the component for creating an effective solder joint.
Here are some common soldering problems while you are soldering
Check the Connection with the Multimeter
Switch the multimeter to the buzzer mode, which helps you test the continuity of your circuit. If you heard the buzzer sound, it means the two parts attached to your probe are connected.
However, you don't want some extra continuity in your circuit, such as -- solder bridge, which might cause a short circuit and damage your work.
Make Sure there is no short circuit on your board before you power it!
This is what a Solder bridge looks like
Component Spinner Guide
In the Peckham Road Physical Computing workshop we have a number of components that are freely available for use. In many cases, you might want to locate some of these components to complete projects for class or in your own time. This is a short guide to what we stock in the Physical Computing Lab, and an overview of the more niche components you might encounter. If you'd like to know more about any of the components in this guide, speak to a technician (particularly Lexin, Matt, Agnes or Tom)
Note: this is not a full stock list of our loanable items, just the electronic components we make available for free. For the catalog, have a look at the kit list, or the live checkout link (only work )
Resistors
Resistors are electronic components that resist the flow of current. You will often find them in parts of circuits where you need to protect sensitive components (like LEDs) or measure something with changing resistance (like an light dependent resistor). You'll notice that we have lots of different kinds of resistors in the CCI -- that's because it can matter a lot what value of resistor you use. Resistors are numbered according to orders of magnitude, and resistance is measured in Ohms (Ω). A resistor with a resistance of 1kΩ (1 kilo-ohm) has 1000 times more resistance than a 1Ω resistor, and 1000 times less than a 1MΩ resistor.
When you are making a circuit, it's important to get the correct resistor values. You can check these against the labels on the drawers, but you can also check this yourself -- all resistors have a pattern of stripes on them. Almost all the resistors we have are four-band -- so the first two stripes indicate the number value of the resistor, and the third the order of magnitude. There's a guide to decoding the stripes here, and a chart guide below:
Note: In general the 3rd stripe (the order of magnitude) matters a lot more than the first two (which give you the number value). So if you need a 220Ω resistor but can't find one, a 270Ω or 180Ω resistor will probably be okay, but a 220kΩ resistor will be way too big for what you're trying to do.
The 4th band of a resistor indicates the tolerance. It's normally fine to ignore this, unless you need your value to be very precise (in which case pick one with a coloured band).
Capacitors
Capacitors are used to control changing electrical signals. You find them in circuits like filters, audio and radio circuits, and they are also used to balance out things like power supplies.
We have two different kinds of capacitor: electrolytic, and ceramic capacitors. These both behave in a similar way, but electrolytic capacitors are polar components (like LEDs), meaning they must be placed the right way round in a circuit in order to work. On circuit diagrams they will appear with a + and a - symbol. On polar capacitors, the side with a - is normally indicated by a white stripe, and a shorter leg -- this should point toward ground.
Capacitance is measured in Farads (F). Farads are a bit of a weird measurement, in that 1 Farad is very big: most capacitors are a much smaller fraction of a Farad, and are typically measured in micro- (μ) or nano- (n) farads. The size of capacitor you use will matter a lot, so make sure you get the right one for your circuit. The chart below shows how to identify different types and values of capacitors.
LEDs
LED is short for 'light emitting diode' -- these are electronic components that emit light in circuits. All diodes are polar components, meaning that they will only work if they are placed the right way round. On an LED, the side that goes toward ground will normally be indicated by a shorter leg, and a flattened side to the casing. On a circuit diagram, the direction is indicated by an arrow, with the pointing side of the arrow pointing toward ground.
In the CCI we have lots of different colours of LEDs. In general, they only require a small amount of current to work. If you put too much current through them, they will blow up! To avoid this, you can place them in series with a resistor, which will limit the flow of current. It's important to make this resistor not too large either, as if it's very big the LED won't get enough current to work. For a regular 5V circuit, a 220Ω resistor is normally about right.
Diodes
Diodes are components used to ensure that current only flows in one way. Often they're used in circuits with motors to protect more delicate components! There are a few different types available -- the IN4001 and IN4007 diodes are used for larger currents (around 1Amp), whereas the small-signal diodes are for circuits with a small amount of current (e.g. the amount that would come from an Arduino).
We also have stock Schottky diodes -- these are used in rectifier circuits, where it really matters how quickly a diode changes direction. A rectifier circuit is used to switch from AC to DC current. Schottky diodes have a different electrical signal.
Connectors
Making good connections is a core part of constructing robust circuits. In the CCI we stock some wires that come with connectors already built in (the 'header wires' that are given out in Arduino kits). If you are soldering a board which uses these kinds of wires, we have headers and sockets available in the spinner that these will correspond to. The technical name for these is 'dupont connectors'. You can use snips to cut the pins and sockets to the number you require.
For making more robust connections, we also stock:
- JST Connectors
- Screw Terminals
- Crimp Terminals
There's a much longer guide to these kinds of connectors in the Electronics Fabrication guide.
e-Textiles
We stock some basic e-Textiles equipment in the spinner, and have more on request. These components are more limited, so only take what you need. They include:
- conductive thread and fabric
- sewable snaps
- sewable LEDs
- battery holders
- flexible silicone wire
For more info on e-textiles equipment and provision at the CCI, take a look at this guide.
Advanced Components
We keep a number of components that are useful in more complex circuits. These might include circuits that don't use an Arduino, for example, oscillators, synthesisers, amplifier and radio circuits. If you're curious about any of these you can ask a technician for help, but you're also welcome to test out using components that appear in circuit diagrams.
Many of these components are packaged as IC's, or Integrated Circuits -- small rectangles with 8 or more legs. When soldering these into stripboards, it's worth using a DIP socket to hold them rather than soldering the chip directly in -- if anything goes wrong, it's much easier to change it out. Most ICs will have the chip number etched on top, and 'pin 1' of the IC will be marked with a dot or a notch. More information on ICs is available here.
With some of these components, we only stock a small number of these as they're typically not used in student projects -- if you plan to use many of something, please ask us first!
Op-Amps
Op-amps (operational amplifiers) are used to amplify signals in circuits. These require a dual power supply to work -- one with a positive and negative voltage. For lower amplification applications this can be achieved using a simple circuit to make a +-4.5V power supply from a 9V input.
- TL072 -- this is an audio op-amp with a high quality signal
- LM324N -- this is a high voltage gain op-amp
Shift Registers
555 Timers
CMOS logic
Inductors
Schmitt Triggers
These are used to remove noise, and can also be used as an oscillator (e.g. in making sounds). We have these available in the SN74HC14N package, which contains 6 schmitt triggers.
Microcontrollers
We stock small numbers of STM32 and ATMEGA chips. The latter of these are the chips used in arduino boards, and can be programmed using the IDE. This allows you to fabricate your own boards from scratch, which can be useful for miniaturised circuits e.g. for wearables. The STM chips were used in the synth-building workshop run by Dirty Electronics last year.
Electronics Fabrication Tips, Tools and Resources
Here at the CCI, only a few courses require students to go beyond breadboard prototyping of circuits, and in lots of cases this might be all you need to develop your prototypes. However, for students that are interested in developing their hardware work, either to make permanent installations, to make work for others, to make wearables, or just to have more reliable circuits, there are a lot of useful tips and tricks that can make your life a lot easier!
These notes were written by Agnes for a Technical Skills Workshop. This guide is written in order of the stage of prototyping -- normally to make a new circuit I'd go through all of these!
0. General fabrication tips and info
- make lots of tests before soldering everything together! do things a small bit at a time
- always check for shorts before you plug stuff in
- it's a good idea to breadboard your ideas and get them working before doing anything else
Components and materials
You can fabricate a lot of really diverse and complex circuits just using the free components we stock in the Physical Computing Lab. There's a big big guide to these here.
Working from Schematics
If you're trying to make circuits that you've found online or in a textbook, they might come in a variety of formats. In addition to pictorial representation (like Fritzing diagrams, or pictures of breadboards/stripboards), it will be possible in most cases to find a 'circuit diagram' or schematic. These take a bit of practice to learn to read, but it's well worth doing if you plan to do any more complex hardware work. There's a good guide to doing this here.
Often, working with a circuit diagram involves being systematic -- it's a good idea to work from nodal points where multiple things connect together, or work in order of pins on an Integrated Circuit. For more on this, there's a fantastic guide called The Art of Debugging Circuits, which goes through a bunch of different strategies for electronics debugging. A sample quote here:
A circuit appears magical when their is a conflict between your logic and physics. Remember: physics is never wrong (with respect to conventional circuits). Circuits always behave logically. Your circuit is doing exactly what it is supposed to do the way that you built it. Your logic is wrong. This can either be because you do not understand what you built or you did not build what you understand.
1. Better Breadboarding
Often, the first step when prototyping is to make and test the circuit on a breadboard. Even when breadboarding, though, there are some ways to make your life a lot easier. One of the first things I'd recommend doing is to use solid-core wire rather than header wire on the breadboard -- it makes it a lot easier to see what's going on.
bad: spaghetti
good: some kind of other much more legible pasta shape
The second of these, instead of using header wire, uses what is called "solid core wire". This is wire with a single piece of metal inside, and can be bent into shape. We stock both stranded and solid core wire in the department -- stranded wire is for making flexible connections between boards. To know what you have, either try bending some, or strip a little from the end.
To correctly arrange solid core wire, the easiest way is often to strip one end, and put it into one of the holes it needs to go into. Use your thumb to mould thw wire toward where it needs to go, then cut with 5mm to spare, strip the other end, and insert into the board.
Breadboarding Rules:
- always use the power rails -- use red for the positive voltage, black for ground (see below)
- always connect all the grounds in your circuit together
- use solid core wire rather than header wire to connect components together -- you can mould this onto the board, and it makes it much easier to see what's going on
- colour code your wires to stand in for different kinds of signals, so you can easily 'read' what's going on (e.g. use green for PWM, orange for analog inputs). There's not the same conventions for this as the power rails -- just choose what feels right
- always plug the power in last, and unplug it again before making any edits
- give yourself enough space! breadboards have little notches to attach together. A rule of thumb with circuits is always to start big, then think about making things smaller
cardinal rule:
Breadboarding Guides and Resources
2. Soldering and Stripboard
For one-off prototypes, with smaller and not so complex boards (+ where it doesn't matter so much how large the board is), the stripboard/protoboard stage can often be a good place to stop. It holds all the components in place, and, so long as you pick the right connectors, it shouldn't break.
soldering
We have a whole separate guide on how to solder properly! A summary of good soldering technique is given here.
please never
do this:
😬 looking at you, Modular students!
Stripboard Guides and Resources
- The Lost Art of Stripboard Prototyping -- this is a fantastic guide, really worth giving it a read, even if you've made stripboards before
- How to Solder: A Complete Beginner's Guide -- good guide to soldering technique
General stripboarding tips:
- lay all your components out before you start soldering. Most components you can bend the legs of to hold them in place, and it's helpful to be able to rearrange things as you decide on your layout
- start by soldering low-rise things first -- if you solder in large components your board won't be able to lie flat when it's upside-down
- you can use a craft knife to cut traces e.g. in between the legs of an Integrated Circuit
- always do a sanity check when you are starting to make sure the copper traces are the correct way round
Connectors
Amazing Resource -> The Electrical Connector Book
One of the major decisions that you will make in any electronics project is what connectors to use, e.g. to connect different boards together, to make a connection to a power supply, connect components such as motors.
The first major major rule is -- never just solder a connecting wire directly into a stripboard. It will break!! Always plan to use a connector to interface to the board.
With things like connectors, it can be really useful to know a few common types, and to be able to identify ones you might run into! There are loads of different ones suitable for different scenarios, I'm linking the main ones here.
General considerations
- what spacing ('pitch') is the thing you are connecting to? Arduino, Raspberry Pi, breadboards and most prototyping boards have a pitch of 2.54mm. This isn't always true for other boards and components, however -- for example the Adafruit feather boards use a 2mm JST connector for the power supply, and Grove components are all 2mm Molex
- what gauge of wire is being connected? thicker wires might not fit in smaller connectors, and vice versa. This is particularly important for crimped connectors such as JST
- do I need strain relief? for connections that might move a lot, or are subject to lots of force, it might be worth considering how to securely mount these on your board, past just soldering, or how to protect the joins
- do I need a special tool to use this connector? some connectors, like JST, also require a specific crimping tool to make the connection. These can sometimes be really expensive, and/or hard to use
DuPont
You will probably be familiar with DuPont connectors from using header wire to connect components to an Arduino. They are very commonly used in prototyping boards, which often come presoldered with Dupont-compatible headers or sockets. Their main drawback is not being very well fixed-in place: if you've ever had a breadboard come apart during transit, Dupont headers are likely to blame.
Good for:
- temporary connections
- low current
Not so good for:
- anything permanent
- power supplies
JST
JST connectors are my go-to for developing small projects. They can be fiddly to create (they often require manual crimping), but are a great balance of manual adjustability and reliability once you've got the hang of working with them.
JST can be a tough standard to get your head around, and I always recommend taking a look at this guide when starting to work with them. The JST-XH standard corresponds to the 2.54mm spacing standard used on most boards, but do always double check that that's the pitch you want to use.
Good for:
- one off prototyping
Not so good for:
- if you're in a hurry and just want to test something (use Dupont/solid core wire and a breadboard)
- large arrays of connections (use IDC and ribbon cable for anything > 5)
IDC
IDC stands for "insulation-displacement contact" -- they are used with ribbon cable, and have tiny blades that slice into the cable to create electrical contacts.These are good if you have to connect multiple cables together, and are often used to communicate between boards.
They normally use 2 rows of pins, so if you're attaching them to a stripboard be sure to score between the rows to prevent shorts!
These can be very convenient, it's a quick way of making a bunch of connections. Unlike JST, however, it's not possible to disconnect and reroute individual wires.
Good for:
- inter-board communication
- quickly making a bunch of connections
Not so good for:
- smaller numbers of connections
- I always find that I need to think quite hard about which cable connects to which pin. But perhaps you enjoy thinking about such things
Screw Terminal
Good for:
- power supplies
- components like motors that you might need to often connect and disconnect
- anything with a strand-core cable that's slightly too thick for JST
Not so good for
- small spaces
- overkill for low-power components
Crimp terminal connections
In the above image, you can see that the wires in the screw terminal at the bottom are much more safely connected than those at the top.
While connecting smaller-gauge wires that don't carry high current, it can be fine to just connect the wire into a terminal as-is. However, for thicker cable, you will need to crimp the ends to ensure a secure connection into the terminal block. We have loads of these in different sizes at the CCI -- they can be quite forgiving, however it's worth taking some time to make sure you're using the right ballpark wire gauge. Here's a lovely chart of all the variants: I default to using the ring connectors.
Proprietary connectors
Some connector standards are associated with particular kinds of cable. Common ones to encounter in board fabrication are for programming boards. To allow your board to be programmed by one of these (this is a particular consideration for PCB design) you might want to include the specific footprint of the connector you need (often this is a kind of header).
Common proprietary connector standards include:
- ISP -- 'in system programmer' -> these are a funky little 6-pin arrangement that you get on more specialised boards. Used as an alternative to programming a board over USB.
- JTAG -- often used to debug chips on boards
- FTDI -- these are actually pretty convenient as they just use regular dupont headers
A note on language -- lots and lots of electronics manufacturers will still use the gendered terms 'male' and 'female' to describe the orientation of connectors. This is language that's essentialist and reductive, and lots of places (including the CCI!) use 'plug' and 'socket' instead respectively -- but if you are searching for connector types online it can be useful to have these as search terms as they're still used quite widely!
For a good time, you might enjoy the twitter account cursed connectors.
Wire gauge and Power Considerations
With circuits that need to handle either movement or higher loads, what wire you use can become a major consideration. Adafruit have a great guide to understanding wire gauge and picking the correct wire for your project.
In general -- the generic thinner wires we supply at the CCI (I believe these are 22 gauge) are fine for most microcontroller projects where the current is <1 Amp. If you are using components that consume more current (like larger motors, speakers, amplifiers etc), and especially anything using mains, you will want to do some power calculations to figure out what wire to use. Do come and speak to a technician if this is the case, we can help. The thicker the wire, the more current it can handle.
High-power circuits shouldn't be prototyped using breadboards. Stripboard can handle higher currents, but it's a good idea to thicken the traces that will be taking these currents with an extra layer of solder. This will reduce resistance and prevent the circuit from heating up.
Omni have a useful wire size calculator that allows you to figure out what gauge of wire your project might need.
IC sockets
Never solder an integrated circuit (IC) directly into a proto board!!! You'll end up with loads of issues later on. Instead, solder an IC socket in -- this way if you have issues with your IC (like, you accidentally blow it up), it's really straightforward to change it out without having to desolder a load of pins.
It's a good idea to put all your ICs in the same orientation -- this makes it a lot harder to put one in the wrong way round (incidentally a great way to blow things up).
3. PCB Fabrication and Milling
The next step up from prototyping on stripboard is to fabricate your own boards. There's a few different ways to do this, and typically this might be a choice you would make if:
- you want to make something in volume (depends on complexity, but this can save you a lot of time even with low volumes)
- you want to make something much smaller (e.g. for wearables)
- you want something to look nicer than proto board
There is a huge amount that can be written about PCB design techniques -- I won't be writing about it all here -- but do reach out if you're interested in more information.
PCB design
Software:
- Eagle -- this has historically been the standard for PCB prototyping, it's been integrated into Autodesk's Fusion360 software. It's possible to get a license as a UAL student if you want to use this, but increasingly KiCad is just as good, free and has most of the same features.
- KiCad -- free and open-source PCB prototyping software. This is getting better all the time and if you're getting started I'd recommend learning this over Eagle
- KiCad Tutorial
PCB Fabrication Services
We recommend a number of different PCB Fabrication services here on the wiki (scroll down to 'PCB production').
Surface Mount
The components we use in the CCI tend to be 'through-hole' components, with legs that pass through the board. These are different from what you might see on manufactured boards, which typically use much smaller components that sit on top of the board material.
These are often a great way to reduce the footprint of your circuit -- so if you're designing a PCB to make things smaller, using Surface Mount Devices (SMD) might be a good way forward. It's possible to fairly easily solder 1206-series SMD components we have with the equipment at the CCI -- much smaller and you might want to pay for the board to come pre-soldered, or else look into using a reflow station.
Other Considerations
Mounting and finishing
Mounting either PCBs or stripboards properly can be very important for ensuring the longevity of your circuit. Often, drilling holes and using spacers / standoffs or just regular bolts can be enough to hold in place. Make sure that your mount doesn't short your traces!
Often it's worth including mounting structures if you're making casing for your circuit, using 3D printers or laser cutters.
Prototyping for Wearables
Wearable electronics comes with a bunch of considerations about size and power management. We stock sewable battery holders for coin cells and 9V batteries, but do not currently stock Lithium Ion batteries, as these aren't allowed on UAL campuses due to fire risk.
Lots of wearable projects involve wireless components (so whoever is wearing it doesn't have to have a USB cable attached to them), so you might also want to look into networking protocols, using either Wifi, Radio or Bluetooth.
There are many options for integrating circuits into textiles, ranging from making conductive textiles from scratch (e.g. conductive knit) to using silicon-coated wire to stitch flexible threads into garments. For project ideas involving textiles, we have a wiki page for e-textiles and the website How To Get What You Want (by the collective Kobakant) is an amazing resource for different project ideas.
I want to make my circuit smaller
This is a pretty classic issue with arduino-based circuits -- you have a circuit that works, maybe built with Arduino, and you want to minaturise it. Here are some options, from biggest to smallest:
- use an Arduino shield -- this is a special prototyping board that allows you build directly on top of the Arduino. This can be nice if you just want to avoid connection spaghetti
- use a smaller Arduino board, like an Arduino Nano or Arduino Micro. These can be integrated directly into a proto board / breadboard
- Replace the Arduino with another ATMEL chip -- these can still be programmed like arduinos, but it's possible to make the board containing them a lot smaller and only contain the parts you need. As these don't have the USB interface, you will need to use a separate board to program them -- luckily, an Arduino can actually be used for this! There's a good guide to doing this here. This same technique (of replacing a whole board with the chip it uses) can be applied to lots of other boards too.
I want my circuit to be wireless
This is another really common thing to want to do. Core options:
- radio -- I love the adafruit packet radios. Main thing to remember is -- for radio, you need 2!
- bluetooth -- NRF52 is a good one to look at here.
- wifi -- technically this is radio but it's it's own protocol. ESP8266.
Remember that even wireless circuits will still need a power supply! A commonly-used format is LiPo batteries. These can be really convenient, but come with health and safety considerations, especially if they are to be worn!
I want my circuit to be soft/flexible
- Silione covered strand-core wire
- Conductive thread
- Conductive ribbon
Adding connections to this can be tricky.
I want my circuit to work outdoors
Depending on how long it needs to last / how much the circuit moves / how waterproof the circuit needs to be, there are a bunch of different methods. This instructable gives a pretty solid overview. Please be careful when using different resins to coat your circuit as some can be toxic! If in doubt (and definitely before bringing into the workshop), speak to a cci technician.
My circuit contains rotating parts
You want to use a Slip Ring. We have some in the CCI -- Adafruit have a video tutorial for how to use them here. A word of warning: this can be a real pain to do, and unless you feel quite confident with fabrication generally we'd advise you try and figure out a simpler way to make your work!
Useful learning resources
Books
-
Getting Started With Arduino 3rd Edition by Massimo Banzi and Michael Shiloh
A short and practical guide to the getting started with the Arduino platform. Explains what you might use it for, the principles behind the platform, some basic code and electronics guidance. - Make: Electronics by Charles Platt A very hands on guide to the fundamentals of electronics. Assumes no prior knowledge and uses some great real world examples and practical applications.
-
Practical Electronics for Inventors 3rd Edition by Paul Scherz and Simon Monk
A more in-depth look at electronics. Very good for those with a grasp on the basic topics.
Websites
- Learn at Sparkfun
- Learn at Adafruit
- Kobakant DIY - Lovely guides for DIY e-textiles and conductive material-based components and projects
- Arduino Stackexchange - forum for asking questions
Virtual Learning and Emulation
-
As part of your UAL access, you get access to all the LinkedIn Learning courses, avilable here: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/
-
TinkerCAD - From AutoDesk, can simulate your rduino and components and write code and test before physically building. Also very easy to use 3D CAD utility for designing//building STL filrs for 3D Printing.
-
Circuit IO - Essentially a shop, but has a great app that lets you drag & drop components onto a simulator with a range of embedded computing modules and program them. It has a functionality which arranges ports and gives you the simple basic programming and libraries for those components. Bear in mind, you should be programming for your projects yourself and submissions using the auto-generated code should explicitly say where the code came from (we have a plagiarism detection system which will disqualify your marks if you do not state your code came from here).
-
Easy laser cutting case design: https://en.makercase.com/#/basicbox
Videos
Where to buy components
Don't Buy These Components
Have you bought a component that was poor quality, broken or ineffective? Let us know and we can post it here so this doesn't happen to anyone else.
Top tip -- if you're on UAL Wifi (or VPN) go to the checkout catalogue and search for components, if you click the link you can see what we buy.
Servos
- We have had problems with: XTVTX metal gear micro servo -> some didn't work straight out of the box, with others the wires broke off, poorly made
- good: (the ones we buy) FeeTech FS90 Mini Servo
Where to buy materials & parts
Electronics, componants
Bigger Shops - large and often complex catalogues
Supplier | Material | Website | Note |
---|---|---|---|
RS | electronics, componants, tools | http://uk.rs-online.com/ | Fast delivery, huge selection. Free delivery. Collection also possible from Bow |
Rapid online | electronics, componants, tools | https://www.rapidonline.com | Fast delivery, huge selection, student pricing + free delivery over £30 |
Mouser | electronics, consumer stuff | https://www.mouser.co.uk/ | Fast delivery, some items overpriced, Free delivery over £33 |
Farnell | electronics, componants, tools | http://www.farnell.co.uk | Free delivery over £20 (ex VAT) |
CPC | electronics, componants, tools | http://cpc.farnell.com/ | Free delivery over £8 + VAT |
Bitsbox | https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/ |
Smaller Shops - stock products locally, so not shipping from the EU/US
Supplier | Material | Website | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Proto-Pic | electronics, componants | https://www.proto-pic.co.uk/ | Offers 10% student discount |
Cool components | electronics, componants | http://coolcomponents.co.uk/ | |
Pimoroni | electronics, robotics, kits | https://shop.pimoroni.com/ | |
Robotshop | electronics, robotics | https://www.robotshop.com/ | |
Active Robots | electronics, robotics | http://www.active-robots.com/ | |
Hobbytronics | electronics, componants | http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/ | |
Hobbyking | radio controlled electronics | https://hobbyking.com/ | RC control, BLDC motors, battery packs etc |
SKPang | electronics, componants | https://skpang.co.uk/ | |
#DigitalMeans | electronics, componants | http://digitalmeans.co.uk/ | |
Oomlout | electronics, componants | https://oomlout.co.uk/ | |
Spiratronics | electronics, componants | http://spiratronics.com/ | |
Bright Components | electronics, componants | http://bright-components.co.uk/ | |
Kitronik | electronics, robotics, kits | https://kitronik.co.uk/ |
US/EU based
Supplier | Material | Website | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Arduino | kits | https://store.arduino.cc/ | |
Adafruit | electronics, componants, kits | https://www.adafruit.com/ | |
Sparkfun | electronics, kits | https://www.sparkfun.com/ | |
Seeed studio | pcb and electronics components | http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/ | |
Digikey (USA) | electronics, componants, kits | http://www.digikey.co.uk/ |
China based
Supplier | Material | Website | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Seedstudio (China) | electronics, componants, kits | https://seeedstudio.com/ | |
DF Robot (China) | electronics, componants, robotics | http://dfrobot.com/ | |
DealExtreme (China) | electronics, componants | http://dx.com/ | |
Ali Express (China) | electronics, componants | https://www.aliexpress.com/ |
Machine Elements
Supplier | Material | Website | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Motionco | Machine elements | http://motionco.co.uk/ | Great source of gears, pulleys, belts, chains, bearings etc |
Model Fixings | Machine elements | http://www.modelfixings.co.uk | Poorly made website, but a great range of mechanical fixings and bearings |
HPC Gears | Gears | http://www.hpcgears.com/ | Gears and power transmission |
RS | Machine elements | http://uk.rs-online.com/ | |
Spring Masters | Springs | https://www.springmasters.com/ | |
On Drives | Gear boxes | http://www.ondrives.com/ | Med - Heavy duty gearboxes |
Cross Morse | Transmissions | http://www.cross-morse.co.uk/ | |
SDP-SI | Transmissions | http://www.sdp-si.com/ | Massive range, USA delivery only, but great for finding 3D CAD models of parts |
Simply Bearings | Bearings | http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/ | Specialise in bearings, wide variety: miniature, loose, bushings, etc. |
Igus | Plastic Bearings | https://www.igus.co.uk/ | All things sliding, rolling and polymer. Expensive |
Bearing Boys | Bearings | http://www.bearingboys.co.uk | |
S3i | Wire ropes | https://www.s3i.co.uk/ | Wire rope and attachments |
Model shops
Shop | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4D Model Shop | General Model Making and laser cutting services | http://www.modelshop.co.uk/ | 4D modelshop Ltd, The Arches, 120 Leman Street, London, E1 8EU | 020 7264 1288 | Best shop for model parts in London. Can be expensive |
London Graphic Center | General Model Making | ||||
Charles Cantrill | Cork | http://www.charlescantrill.com | |||
Atlantis Art Supplies | ‘Europes Largest Fine Art Supplies Retaile | http://www.atlantisart.co.uk | Britannia House, 68-80 Hanbury Street,London E1 5JL | ||
EMA Model Supplies | modeling shop | http://www.ema-models.co.uk | |||
Blueprintmodelshop | model shop and laser cutter | http://www.blueprintmodel.co.uk | really cheap but not good quality (20% off on material for students) | ||
Cassart | modelshop | http://www.cassart.co.uk | 10% for students. Lots of shops in London | ||
Canonbury art supplies | art shop | http://www.globalartsupplies.co.uk |
Raw materials
Aluminum
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dore Metals | Aluminium | https://www.doremetals.co.uk | Aluminium and non-ferrous metals. | ||
Aalco | Metal | http://www.aalco.co.uk | |||
Park Side Style | Steel | http://www.parksidesteel.uk.com | Rod, tube, bar, sheet, plate, steel | ||
Smiths Metal | Metal | http://www.smithmetal.com | College has account | ||
Fays Metals | Unit 3, 37 Colville Road, South Acton, London, W3 8BL | 020 8993 8883 | A traditional metal warehouse situated a 10min walk from South Acton tube or on the 440 Bus route, Fays stock all different types of Steel, Aluminium, Brass etc in various forms of extrusion, sheet and billet. They're reasonably priced and if you talk to them nicely they'll let you look around for what you need. They also have a large shelf of various offcuts you can obtain for reduced prices. | ||
Aluminium warehouse | Aluminium | https://www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk | Metal cut to order |
Wood
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Moss&Co. | Wood | http://www.mosstimber.co.uk/ | 020 8748 8251 | ||
Capital Crispin | Wood Veneer | http://www.capitalcrispin.com | Amazing stock of veneer, and cheap |
Plastics
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hamar Acrylics | arcylic, laser cut services | http://www.hamaracrylic.com | Sell cheap offcuts in shop | ||
Amari Plastics | large acrylic sheets | http://www.amariplastics.com/amariplastics/default.asp | 2 Cumberland Ave., Park Royal, London NW10 7RL | 020 8961 1961 | |
Hobart | acrylic and plastic | https://hobarts.com/ |
Paper
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
John Purcell Paper | card and paper | http://www.johnpurcell.net | 15 Rumsey Rd., London SW9 0TR | Tel: 020 7737 5199 |
PSG Group | Various Sheet Material incl. Nomex (Fire Retardent Paper) | http://www.psggroup.co.uk | Polymex House, 49-53 Glengall Road, London, SE15 6NF |
Foam
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pentonville rubber | Foam (upholstery) | http://www.pentonvillerubber.co.uk | 104-106 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JB | 0207 837 7553 |
Foam supplier | foam cut to size and other type of foam | http://www.foamsupplierslondon.co.uk | 26-27 Shepherds Bush Market London W12 8DF | 07429 212 415 or 07411 653 301 |
Hardware
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Margaret Mills | 48 Gloucester Road, London, SW7 4QT | Small hardware store on Gloucester Road who carry a suprising amount of stock in the locality of Imperial. They carry the usual household items as well as tools, basic wood stock and PVC tube. They are however the most expensive for these items, so best used if convenience is a premium. | |||
Leyland SDM | Wood | http://www.leylandsdm.co.uk/ | Leyland are a large chain of hardware stores all over London | ||
B&Q | http://www.diy.com/ | ||||
Homebase | http://www.homebase.co.uk/ |
Resin
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tiranti | resins, molding, sculpting | http://www.tiranti.co.uk | 27 Warren Street, London W1T 5NB | 020 7380 0808 |
Notcutt | resins | http://www.notcutt.co.uk | ||
Mold life | resins and silicone | http://mouldlife.co.uk/ | ||
John Burn | Resins | http://www.johnburn.co.uk |
Misc
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arthur Beales | ropes, chandlery | http://www.arthurbeale.co.uk | 194 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JP | ||
Inoxia | Wire Mesh | http://www.inoxia.co.uk/rw/section/1.aspx | |||
Metamark | vinyl | http://www.metamark.co.uk/pages_sv/7series.htm | |||
Clerkenwell screws | Screws | 020 7405 1215 | Really good screws wide range |
Textiles
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alma Leather | leather offcuts/ leather supplier (apparel & upholstery) | http://www.almahome.co.uk/almaleather.htm | 12-14 Greatorex St, London E1 5NF | 020 7377 0762 | |
Gold hawk road (many shops) | fabric, pvc sheets | https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=goldhawk+road+fabric+shops&oq=goldawk&aqs=chrome.4.69i57j0l5.8836j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 | Gold Hawk Road | Price can be negotiated if you are canny, and its cheaper than Berwick street | |
Berwick Street (many shops) | Fabric, sewing supplies | http://www.borovickfabricsltd.co.uk | 16 Berwick Street, W1F 0HP | 020 7437 2180/0520 | Nice fabrics, buttons, thread, sewing materials. This is just one store but there are some nicer places on the same street. |
MacCulloch + Walis | haberdashery (high quality) | http://www.macculloch-wallis.co.uk | 25-26 Poland Street, London, W1F 8QN | ||
Bag of Love | Digital print | https://www.bagsoflove.co.uk | |||
Fabrika | pattern cutting and toiling | http://www.fabrika.london/ | |||
London pattern bureau | Design/product development, CAD sketches, Pattern cutting, Toiling, Fittings, Sampling, Design & manufacturing consultancy, Womenswear, Menswear, Outerwear, Tailoring, Separates, Sportswear, Childrenswear, Wovens & knits | http://www.londonpatternbureau.co.uk | |||
The sampling studio | Pattern Cutting, Toiles, Sampling, Grading, CMT, Production, Design | https://www.thesamplingstudio.com | |||
William Gee | Haberdashery | https://www.williamgee.co.uk | 520-522 Kingsland Road, London E8 4AH |
Glass & Ceramics
Vendor | Material | Website | Address |
---|---|---|---|
Dixon Glass | Borosilicate Glassware | http://www.dixonglass.co.uk | |
London Glasswork Ltd | http://www.londonglassworks.co.uk | 545 Garratt Lane, London, SW18 4SR | |
Ceramic studio co-op | Ceramic work | http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/chemistry/people/operationsinfrastructure/technicalresearch/stephenramsey | 14, 17, Block C, Juno Way, New Cross, London, SE14 5RW |
Stephen Ramsey | glass blower | Imperial College |
Painting
Vendor | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stockwell Motor Accessories | cellulose paint | http://www.capitalcrispin.com | 226-236 Clapham Road London SW9 0PZ | 0207 582 3666 | |
Colorite paint | http://www.colorite.co.uk/colourmatching.html | 169 Boston Road, London, W7 3QJ | 0208 579 3381 | ||
Armourtex Ltd. | -powder coating | 16 Rowe La, London, E9 6EL | 020 8986 2028 | ||
Purpose Powder Coating | powder coating | Old Kent Road | Pick up and drop off in person. Can drop your parts into existing production runs if small, and you're OK with standard colour (white or yellow) and charge the minimum cost. Say you're a student. |
Where to buy components
The following list is of common suppliers, other than eBay...
Electronics
UK
Arduino boards, shields, etc...
-
Proto-Pic
Offers 10% student discount - SKPang
- #DigitalMeans
- Cool Components
- HobbyTronics
- Kitronik
- Oomlout
- Pimoroni
- Spiratronics
- Bright Components
Components
-
Rapid
Student pricing + free delivery over £30 -
CPC
Free delivery over £8 + VAT -
Farnell
Free delivery over £20 -
RS
Collect from Bow or free next day delivery -
Mouser
Free delivery over £33 - Bitsbox
Robotics + components
- Technobots
- Active Robots
- Robot Shop
- MakerBeam (European)
International
- Adafruit (USA)
- Sparkfun (USA)
- Seedstudio (China)
- DF Robot (China)
- DealExtreme (China)
- Digikey (USA)
- Ali Express (China)
Materials
Craft materials
Model shop
Mechanical parts
- Davall
- HPC
- SDP/SI
- McMaster-Carr
- Belting Online
- ondrives
- Bearing Station
- Direct Bearings
- Technobots
- Transdev
Hackspaces & Services
Here are a list of places around London that can help in production of your projects.
Jump to:
Laser cutting
3D printing
PCB production
Graphic Design Services
Hackspaces
Name | Facilities | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Open Workshop Network | All the makerspace of London | http://openworkshopnetwork.com/ | London | ||
London Hackspace | Laser cutting, 3D printing,Textiles, Metalworking, Woodworking, Electronics | https://london.hackspace.org.uk/ | 388 High Road, Wembley, HA9 6AR | ||
Machine Room | Computing, Digital Fabrication, Electronics, Fine Art, Furniture Design, Repair, Robotics, Textiles and Wood Work | https://machinesroom.co.uk/ | 54-55 Containerville, 35 Corbridge Crescent, London, E2 9EZ | Machines Room is an east London maker space open to the public and businesses to come and fabricate their ideas. | |
Institute Of Making | Ceramics, Computing, Digital Fabrication, Electronics, Engineering, Fine Art, Glass Work, Metal Work, Printmaking, Repair, Robotics, Screen Printing, Textiles and Wood Work | https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/ | Malet Place, University College London, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7JE | 02076793248 | The Institute of Making is a cross-disciplinary research club for those interested in the made world. |
Makerversity | Computing, Digital Fabrication, Electronics, Engineering, Fine Art, Metal Work, Photography, Robotics and Wood Work | http://makerversity.org | Somerset House, New Wing, Lancaster Place, WC2R 1LA | 020 3701 7499 | Making. Learning. Factory-on-Thames. |
Ceramics Studio Co-op | Ceramics, Fine Art and Sculpture | https://www.ceramicsstudio.coop/ | Juno Way, London, SE14 5RW | 02086916421 | Ceramics Studio Co-op provides ceramics studio spaces and open-access to professional and amateur ceramics artists and designers. |
The Kiln Rooms | Ceramics | https://www.thekilnrooms.com/ | Peckham |
Services
Plynths: https://www.greatart.co.uk/gerstaecker-display-plinths.html
Laser cutting
Easy laser cutting case design: https://en.makercase.com/#/basicbox
Business | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hamar Acrylic Fabrications Ltd | Acrylic, perspex etc. | http://www.hamaracrylic.com/ | 16 Bidder St, London E16 4ST | 020 7739 2907 | Can cut to size on site |
Denny Plastics | Plastic | http://www.dennyplastics.co.uk/ | Mitre Way, London, W10 6AU | 020 8964 9368 | Plastic fabricators (i.e. they can make stuff up for you). Good with cheaper prices from off cuts. Marginally more expensive than Hamar, but much faster and people are generally nicer |
Good Empire | Laser cutter | http://www.goodempire.com/ | Good Empire,1 Park Mews, Brockwell Park, London, SE24 9DB | Joely - 07835 769 480 | Really nice people, fast and good work |
Blueprintmodelshop | Laser cutting services | http://www.blueprintmodel.co.uk/ | Really cheap but not good quality (20% off on material for students0 | ||
Cut Plastic sheeting | Cutting services for plastic | http://www.cutplasticsheeting.co.uk/ | Cut Plastic Sheeting, Unit 1, Ash Court, Pennant Way, Lee Mill Ind Estate, Ivybridge, Devon, PL21 9GE | 01752 897921 | |
Neon and Sign Makers | Vinyl cutting | http://neonandsignmakers.com/ | Unit 6, 278, Cambridge Heath Rd, London, E2 9DA | 020 8981 3323 | |
Hobart | Acrylic and laser cutting | https://hobarts.com/ | |||
CutLaserCut | All kinds of laser cutting | http://www.cutlasercut.com/ | Camberwell, London | Can pick up in person. |
PCB production
Aisler, OSHPark and JLC are notes and recommendations from CCI's Jen Sykes, who says: "Nowadays I tend to use JLC if its not super time sensitive and Aisler if it is. I may use OSH Park if I needed surface mount assembly of parts depending on my design and part manufacture location."
Supplier | Material | Website | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Aisler | PCB | https://aisler.net/ | Germany based and good at being contactable regarding design. Have upgraded their interface and also have many more options for production now so you can do different levels of manufacturing. Good for low number , small runs and quick turn arounds. |
JLC PCB | PCB | https://jlcpcb.com/ | Very cheap, pretty fast turn around even for worldwide shipping. Roughly 2 weeks sometimes much faster (5 days) if its a simple design. Communication sometimes tricky. |
PCBtrain | PCB | http://www.pcbtrain.co.uk | Super fast turnaround, but a bit pricey |
PCBcart | PCB | http://www.pcbcart.com | |
SEEED | PCB | http://www.seeedstudio.com | Very slow, but crazy cheap and high quality PCB production and assembly. |
OSHPark | PCB | https://oshpark.com/ | US based, now make flex PCBs. Good if you were needing a design assembled + populated with parts mainly manufactured in the US. |
Ragworm | PCB | https://ragworm.eu/ |
Flocking
Business | Material | Website | Phone Number |
---|---|---|---|
Thomas&Vines | Flocking Service, Flock Sellers | http://www.flocking.co.uk | 01923775111 |
Metal fabrication
Category | Business | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Csmetal fabrication | http://www.csmetalfabrication.co.uk/ | 405 Mentmore Terrace, Hackney, London, E8 3PN | 020 8533 7005 | ||
AJ METAL FABRICATIONS LTD | 21 Walthamstow Business Centre, Clifford Rd, London, E17 4SX | 020 8527 4860 | |||
Benson-Sedgwick Engineering | Metal polishing and welding assembly etc (Barry) | http://www.benson-sedgwick.co.uk/ or http://www.highgradepolishers.co.uk | Dagenham | 02085937314 | |
Sand casting | Novacast | https://www.novacast.co.uk/services/casting/sand-casting/ | 44 (0)1225707466 | ||
water jet cutting | London waterjet | http://londonwaterjet.com/ | Unit 10, Network 4, Lincoln Road, Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP12 3RF |
3D Printing
Business | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I.makr | http://www.imakr.com/en/ | 79 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5AR | 02074818184 | ||
Digits to widget | 3d printing and scanning services | http://www.digits2widgets.com/ | D2W Studios, 61 – 63 Rochester Place, London, NW1 9JU | 020 3697 7969 | |
Prototype project | 3D printing and general prototyping | http://www.prototypeprojects.com/ | |||
Chalk Studios | Objet printing | http://www.chalkstudios.co.uk/ | 14 Windsor Street, London, N1 8QG | 020 7354 1206 | Objet printing, but local to London, you can do next day am collection |
I.Materialise | http://i.materialise.com/ | Materialise HQ, Technologielaan 15, 3001 Leuven, Belgium | Big machines and good range of finishes | ||
Ultimaker | https://ultimaker.com/ |
Graphic Design Services
Business | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Color Company | fast turn around printing services | http://www.color.co.uk/ | 27a Poland Street, London, W1F 8QW | 020 7287 4387 | There are a couples in London |
OvernightPrints | Prints from business cards to banners | http://www.OvernightPrints.co.uk/businesscards | |||
Moo | business cards and flyers | http://uk.moo.com/ | really good services, fast and medium cheap | ||
GF Smith | Paper and book making | https://www.gfsmith.com/ | G . F Smith, Six Bridges Trading Estate, Marlborough Grove, London SE1 5JT | 020 7394 4660 | |
London graphics | paper and art material | http://www.londongraphics.co.uk/ | 16-18 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JL | 020 7759 4500 | |
Paper shake | origami services | http://www.papershake.com/ |
Misc
Category | Business | Material | Website | Address | Phone Number | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Protolabs | general machining | http://www.protolabs.co.uk/ | Proto Labs, Ltd. Halesfield 8, Telford, Shropshire, TF7 4QN | 01952 683048 | Injection moulding in small production runs, CNC. Useful for generating online quotes quickly. | |
CNC | First Cut | Fast turnaround | ||||
Ormiston Wire | Specialist Wire Manufacturers & Suppliers | |||||
OMNI | Bermondsey | Digitally print onto any material, other normal and large format printing services. | ||||
Rocket Print | Watford | Can digitally print on to most materials. Large format printing services (architectural scale) |
What components are available?
An extensive array of equipment is available. Please bear in mind that the Physical Computing Lab services operate as a collaboration. We expect you to come to us early in your project life cycle and work with our team to validate the need for the equipment.
Catalogue
We are currently migrating much of the non-physical computing items, such as cameras, input devices, etc., into ORB, but some items are still in the catalogue below.
View the live catalogue - This is only visible from UAL-WiFi on campus or via the Staff VPN.
This list was updated on 08/03/2025.
Peckham Road
- 12V 2A 24W DC Power Supply
- 12V Linear Solenoid
- 12V NeoPixel Strip of 21
- 1Sheeld
- 2 Relay breakout
- 2.0" 320x240 Color IPS TFT Display with microSD Card Breakout
- 2004 20X4 Character LCD Module Display
- 24VDC 1A 24W
- 28BYJ-48 - 5V Stepper Motor
- 36W Volt Adjustable Multi Output
- 5V 4AMP DC Power Supply
- 5V Power Adapter
- 6-12V R385 DC Diaphragm Pump
- 64x32 RGB LED Matrix - 4mm pitch
- 6V Air Valve
- 6x Arcade buttons
- 9V Power Adapter
- AD620 Instrumentation Amplifier Module
- ADXL343 Accelerometer
- AGPTEK Media Player
- ASUS ZenScreen Go MB16AHP
- ATMEL Programmer
- AXA HR Traction Bike Dynamo
- Adafruit 2.8" TFT LCD Display
- Adafruit 3-Axis 14-bit Accelerometer MMA8451
- Adafruit BNO055 Absolute Orientation Sensor
- Adafruit Bicolor LED Square Pixel Matrix with I2C Backpack
- Adafruit DS3231 Precision RTC
- Adafruit Data Logging Shield
- Adafruit Feather M0 Adalogger
- Adafruit MPR 121 Capacitive Touch Sensor
- Adafruit Matrix Portal - CircuitPython Powered Internet Display
- Adafruit NeoPixel Ring
- Adafruit PCA9685 16-Channel Servo Driver
- Adafruit RGB Matrix Shield for Arduino
- Adafruit Software Defined Radio
- Adafruit Stereo FM Transmitter
- Adafruit Thumb Joystick
- Adafruit WINC1500 WiFi Shield for Arduino
- Adafruit nRF52840 Feather
- Adafruit white 7-segment display w/backpack (HT16K33)
- Adafruit white alpha display w/backpack (HT16K33)
- Air Pump and Vacuum DC Motor - 4.5 V and 2.5 LPM
- Altitude / Air Pressure Sensor MPL3115A
- Analog DC Current Sensor Breakout - 60V 5A Max
- Anker PowerConf S500
- Anker PowerCore 20100 20000mAh Battery Pack
- Anker PowerCore Essential
- Ape Labs W-APP wireless Transceiver
- Apple 85W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter
- Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter
- Apple Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter
- Arduino BLE Sense
- Arduino Danger Shield
- Arduino Joystick Module
- Arduino Leonardo
- Arduino Leonardo Pack
- Arduino MKR1000
- Arduino Mega
- Arduino Mega Breakout Board
- Arduino Micro
- Arduino Pack
- Arduino Uno
- Arduino Uno Rev 4
- Audio Analyzer Module
- BBC Micro bit
- Bare Conductive Light Up Board
- Bare Conductive Touch Board
- Behringer MicroAMP HA400 - Compact 4 channel stereo headphone amp
- Belkin USB-C Ethernet
- Big Easy (Stepper) Driver
- Black and Decker Heat Gun
- Bluetooth USB Dongle
- Brennenstuhl PM 231 Power Meter
- CK Tools T3887 Ecotronic ESD Side Cutters
- CK Tools T3963 Cable Cutters 210mm
- Clear Turbine Water Flow Sensor
- Coin Acceptor
- Colour sensor 🌐1 🌐2
- Conductive Knit Sample
- Conductive Rubber Cord Stretch Sensor
- Contactless Smart Card Reader
- D-Link DGS-105 5 Port Gigabit Switch
- DF Robot Analog Sound Sensor Board DFR0034
- DFR Analog Sound Sensor
- DFR0794 Electromagnet 0.6KG
- DFR0796 Electromagnet 5KG
- DFROBOT Beetle
- DFRobot LCD Keypad Shield
- DFRobot MP3 Player
- DFRobot Waterproof DS18B20 Digital Temperature Sensor
- DHT11 Temperature-Humidity Sensor Module
- DMX Dimmer Pack 4-ch
- DMX Relay Pack 4-ch
- DRV2605L Haptic Driver & Motor
- DS1302 REAL-TIME CLOCK MODULE
- Dell Wired Keyboard
- Displaytech Alphanumeric LCD
- ECOPAC 60W USB-C Mains Charger
- EL Wire & AC Power Inverter
- ELO 10" Touchscreen 1002L
- ESP-EYE
- ESP32
- EXTECH EX330 Multimeter
- Ear-clip Heart Rate Sensor
- Electric Heating Pad
- Feetech FS90 Mini Servo
- Feetech FS90R Servo and Wheel
- Flame Sensor
- Fluke 414D Laser Measure
- Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 3rd Gen
- Force Sensor Squared
- Force sensor
- GY-271 Compass Magnetometer Sensor
- Galleon LiPo 400mAh 3.7V Battery
- Galvanic Skin Response Sensor
- Garmin LIDAR-Lite V3HP
- Genelec 8020D
- Giant Arcade Button
- Glue Gun
- Grove - Temp&Humi Sensor
- Grove - Water Atomization
- Grove Barometer Sensor (BMP280)
- Grove Base Shield V2.0 for Arduino
- Grove Dust Sensor
- Grove EMG Detector
- Grove Electromagnet
- Grove Finger Print Scanner
- Grove Multichannel Gas Sensor
- Grove Shield
- Grove Speech Recogniser
- Grove Water Atomisation
- HALJIA ISD1820 Audio Sound Voice Recording Playback Module
- HC-05 Bluetooth Module
- HT16K33 LED Backpack 1.2"
- Haptic Buzzer
- HiTech HS-311 Standard Servo
- HyperPixel 2.1 Round
- HyperPixelXP
- IMU 9DoF with Nano attached
- IRF520 MOSFET Driver Module
- Inspection Camera
- Kemo Bicycle USB Charger
- Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C 32GB
- Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C 64GB
- Kitronik ZIP Stick - 5
- L298N Bi-directional Dual Motor Driver
- LCD
- LCD 1602 with 12C
- LCD 1602 with 12C 20x4
- LCD 3.2inch TFT Display
- LV-EZx Series Maxbotix Ultrasonic Rangefinder Sensor 150-6000mm
- Large Breadboard
- Large Rotary Encoder
- Large push-pull Solenoid
- Large push-pull solenoid
- Laser Cutter Key
- Leap Motion Hand Tracker
- Lens for Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera
- LiPo Cell Battery
- Linear Actuator
- Load cell and amplifier >200KG
- Logitech BRIO 4K Webcam
- Logitech C270 HD Webcam
- Logitech C930e 1080p Webcam
- Logitech Mouse
- Logitech Spotlight presentation remote
- Logitech Streamcam
- Logitech wireless keyboard and trackpad
- M5Stack Core2 Development Kit
- M5Stack Fire Development Kit
- M95 GSM / GPRS Shield for Arduino
- MAX30101 - Heart Rate, Oximeter, Smoke Sensor
- MECO ELEVERDE USB 3 HUB
- MFA Gearbox and Motor 1024:1 4mm Shaft 1.5-3.0V
- MFA Geared Motor 100:1
- MFA Geared Motor 11:1
- MFA Geared Motor 148:1
- MFA Geared Motor 500:1
- MFA Geared Motor 50:1
- MFA Geared Motor 810:1
- MFRC522 RFID Module
- MICRO METAL GEARMOTOR COM0800
- MICS6814 3-in-1 Gas Sensor Breakout (CO, NO2, NH3)
- MKR IoT Carrier Rev2
- MLX90393 Magnetometer
- Makey Makey
- Makita BL1830B 3.0Ah 18V Lithium Battery
- Makita DHP483 Combi Drill
- Makita DTD155 Impact Drive
- Micro HDMI to HDMI Adapter
- Micro SD Card Breakout Board
- Micro SD Card Breakout Board (5v)
- Microsoft Kinect v2 for Windows
- Mini 8x8 LED
- Mini Amplifier
- Mini Solenoid - COM2700
- Muse 2 - The Brain Headset
- MyoWare 2.0 Arduino Shield
- MyoWare 2.0 Cables & Shield
- MyoWare 2.0 LED Shield
- MyoWare 2.0 Link Shield
- MyoWare 2.0 Muscle Sensor
- MyoWare 2.0 Power Shield
- Nano Board ATmega328P 5V 16M Micro-Controller Board
- NeoPixel Stick - 8
- NeoPixel Strip 🌐1 🌐2
- NeoPixel Strip of 20
- NeoPixel Strip of 24
- NeoPixel Strip of 30
- Netgear GS108PP 8 Port Gigabit PoE+ Switch
- Nokia 5110 LCD Screen
- OLED Screen 1'30"
- OSMO DJI Gimbal
- OV7670 Arduino Camera
- Omnifixo OF M4.1
- Optical Rain Gauge RG-9 Rain Sensor
- PLS 180G Laser Level
- PWM Fans
- Parallax Feedback 360 Servo
- Particle Photon
- Photon 2
- Power Pax 5V - USB Adapter
- PulseSensor
- RFM69HCW Radio
- RGB / Gesture Sensor APDS-9960
- RGB Light Sensor ISL29125
- RKAmp4
- RVFM Right Angled Motor and Gearbox 1:220
- Rain Drops Sensor
- Raspberry Pi 4 2GB
- Raspberry Pi 4 4GB
- Raspberry Pi 400
- Raspberry Pi Camera
- Raspberry Pi HQ camera
- Raspberry Pi Pico
- Raspberry Pi Power Supply
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
- Raspberry pi 4 4GB
- Reed Switch Sensor
- Relay Sheild
- Respeaker Microphone Array
- Rode Lavalier Go
- Rode VideoMicro
- Rode Wireless GO II Wireless Microphone System
- Rotary Encoder
- Rotary flange with motor
- SATECHI USB-C Adapter
- Samsung T5 SSD 500GB
- Sealey Crimping Tool
- Sharp GP2Y0A710K0F IR distance sensor 100cm–550cm
- Sharp IR distance sensor >150cm
- Shure SM58 LC Microphone
- Small Push-Pull Solenoid
- Small Rotary Encoder
- SmartMatrix SmartLED Shield (V4) for Teensy 3
- SmartShow Lighting DMX Controller
- SoftPot Membrane Potentiometer
- Soil Moisture Sensor
- Sony Headphones MDR-V150
- SoundCraft Notepad-12FX Analog Mixer
- SparkFun IR Thermometer Evaluation Board - MLX90614
- Sparkfun 12V Vacuum Pump
- Sparkfun MP3 Trigger
- Sparkfun Mono Audio Amplifier Breakout Board
- Sparkfun Sound Detector
- Sparkfun Tsunami
- Sparkfun WAV Trigger
- Sparkfun XBee Shield
- Spectra Industrial Motion & Position Sensors Flex Sensor 55.37mm Linear
- Square FSR 38x38mm
- Star TSP100 futurePrint
- StarTech 60W USB-C Mains Charger
- Stepper Motor
- Stepper Motor with driver TB6600 Driver
- Stereo 3.7W Class D Audio Amplifier - MAX98306
- Submersible 3V DC Water Pump
- TCA9548A I2C Multiplexer
- TECKNET USB-A Ethernet
- TECKNET USB-C Ethernet
- Teensy
- Temperature And Humidity Sensor DHT20
- Thermal Printer
- Tower Pro Micro Servo 90g
- TruSens HC-SR501 PIR Motion Detector
- TruSens HC-SR505 Mini PIR Motion Sensor
- Trust Compact USB powered 6W speakers
- UGREEN Micro HDMI to HDMI Adapter
- UGREEN SD Card Reader
- UGREEN USB-A+C SD Card Reader
- UNI USB-C SD Card adapter
- USB 2.0 A Male to Female Active Extension Lead, 5m Black
- USB 5V Power Supply
- USB A to Micro USB Cable - 1 meter black
- USB A to USB B Cable - 1 meter black
- USB DVD Drive
- USB HDMI Capture card
- USB Microphone
- USB SD Card Reader
- USB Type A Female Breakout
- USB Type C Breakout Board
- USB-C Ethernet adapter
- USB-C Plug to USB-A Socket USB 3.0 Adaptor
- USB-C to HDMI Adapter
- USB-C to USB-A Adapter
- Wacom Intuos Pro S
- Water Pump 1100GPH
- Weather Meter Kit (SEN-15901)
- WiFi Bluetooth Adapter
- Wired Controller USB Cable Gamepad
- World to UK Power Adapter
- tobii eye tracker 5
Greencoat Building
- 12V 1.5A DC Power Supply
- 12V 1A DC Power Supply
- 12V 2A 24W DC Power Supply
- 24VDC 1A 24W
- 36W Volt Adjustable Multi Output
- 3pi+ 32U4 OLED Robot
- 5V AC/DC Switching Adaptor
- 5V Power Adapter
- 600M Dual Band WiFi USB adapter
- 6V Air Valve
- 8BitDo Arcade Stick
- 8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Gamepad
- 9V Power Adapter
- AC/DC Adapter
- AC/DC Power Supply
- AGPTEK Lavalier Microphone
- AGPTEK Media Player
- ASUS ZenScreen Go MB16AHP
- Adafruit Data Logging Shield
- Adafruit FLORA Wearable Electronics
- Adafruit Joystick Module
- Adafruit MPR 121 Capacitive Touch Sensor
- Adafruit NeoPixel Ring
- Adafruit PCA9685 16-Channel Servo Driver
- Adeept 5-DOF Robot arm kit
- Air Pump and Vacuum DC Motor - 4.5 V and 2.5 LPM
- Akasa USB-C to 2x USB-C & 2x USB-A Hub (10Gbps 100w)
- Anker PowerConf S500
- Anker USB C Charger
- Apple Wired Mighty Mouse
- Arduino BLE Sense
- Arduino Leonardo
- Arduino Leonardo Pack
- Atomos HDR Ninja Inferno
- Axis P5534 PTZ Dome Network Camera
- Behringer MICROHD HD400 Hum Destroyer
- Behringer MicroAMP HA400 - Compact 4 channel stereo headphone amp
- Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD
- Behringer Xenyx 1002 mixer
- Breadboard Prototyping Board
- Breadboard for Pico
- Breadboard for pico
- CK Tools T3887 Ecotronic ESD Side Cutters
- Canon EOS M50 camera + 15-45mm lens
- Carrying Bag for 3x Godox LED500C flood lights
- Colour sensor
- D-Link DGS-105 5 Port Gigabit Switch
- DF Robot DMX Shield
- DFROBOT Gravity: HUSKYLENS
- Dell Multimedia USB-A Keyboard-KB21
- Dell Wired Mouse
- Dynamixel AX-12A
- Dynamixel AX-12W
- Dynamode USB-C to 4x USB-A Hub (5Gbps w/ DC in)
- EXTECH EX330 Multimeter
- Edifier W820NB Plus wireless noise cancelling headphones
- Edifier W820NB wireless noise cancelling headphones
- Eurolite LED Bar-6 QCL RGBW
- Eurolite LED SLS-7 QCL 7x10W Floor
- Eurolite QuickDMX Wireless Bundle
- FLIR Teledyne Blackfly Color camera
- FLIR Teledyne Firefly IR camera
- Fan-200 DMX Wind Machine
- Feetech FS90R Servo and Wheel
- Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 3rd Gen
- Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB Audio Interface
- Galvanic Skin Response Sensor
- Genelec 8020D
- Glue Gun
- Grove Dust Sensor
- HDMI2AV UP Scaler 1080P
- HiWonder - RC Digital Servo Tester 6 Channels Motor Servo Controller
- IRF520 MOSFET Driver Module
- JSAUX DISPLAYPORT TO HDMI
- JVC HA-S36W Deepbass wireless headphones
- Jack to XLR
- Jedel wireless keyboard + mouse
- Jedel wireless mouse
- Jen's Feedback Shield
- Kinect Azure
- Korg nanoKEY2 (USB MIDI Keyboard)
- Korg nanoKONTROL2 (USB MIDI controller)
- Korg nanoPAD2 (USB MIDI controller)
- L298N Bi-directional Dual Motor Driver
- LAP GU10 Spike Light 7310X
- Leap Motion Controller vs 2
- Leap Motion Hand Tracker 2
- Logitech BRIO 4K Webcam
- Logitech C930e 1080p Webcam
- Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Touch Keyboard
- Logitech Keyboard wired K120
- Logitech M185 wireless mouse
- Logitech Streamcam
- Logitech Streamcam (infrared mod)
- Logitech Wireless Keyboard MX Keys S
- Logitech wireless keyboard with trackpad
- MD 9930 Thermal camera
- MFA Geared Motor 100:1
- Martin Rush Par 1 RGBW
- Maxx Tech Arcade Fight Stick
- Mercusys AC650 High Gain Dual Band WiFi USB Adapter
- Mercusys MA530 Bluetooth 5.3 Nano USB adapter
- Micro Adapter Kingston
- Micro Adapter SanDisk
- Micro Geared Motor 50:1
- Micro Integral Adapter
- MicroSDHC Memory Card
- Microsoft Kinect v2 for Windows
- Mini Solenoid - COM2700
- Mini Tripod
- Mini-jack to XLR
- MiniMad
- Motorola DS4208 Handheld Scanner
- NANLITE PavoTube 6C
- Neewer Ring Light NW-LED010
- Oculus Quest 2 256GB
- Olympus Compact Zoom Mic
- Omnifixo OF M4.1
- Playstation DualSense Charging Station
- Power Pax 5V - USB Adapter
- Raspberry Pi 4 2GB
- Raspberry Pi 5 27W USB-C Power Supply
- Raspberry Pi 5 8 GB
- Raspberry Pi Power Supply
- Raspberry pi 4 4GB
- Revolabs Single Mic
- RoboPeak LIDAR Laser Scanner Dev Kit
- Robotics Kit
- Robotis DYNAMIXEL Starter Set
- Rode VideoMicro
- SHURE C122 REPLACEMENT CABLE
- Samsung Portable SSD T7 (2TB)
- Securview Infrared IR illuminator (120 deg beam angle)
- Securview Infrared IR illuminator (60 deg beam angle)
- Servo Motor
- Sharp IR distance sensor >150cm
- Shure MX150 Subminiature Lavalier Microphone
- Soil Moisture Sensor
- Sony A6700 A/C mains charger + battery
- Sony A6700 USB charger + battery
- Sony DualSense PS5 controller
- Sony Headphones MDR-V150
- Sound Blaster X4 USB sound interface
- Stagg Dual Channel Direct Injection Box
- Stanley 4in1 screwdriver
- StarTech 60W USB-C Mains Charger
- StarTech USBC-HDMI Adapter
- Stepper Motor
- SubZero SZ-miniCONTROL MIDI controller
- SubZero SZ-miniKEY MIDI Keyboard
- SubZero SZ-miniPAD MIDI controller
- TP-Link UB500 Plus Long Range Bluetooth USB adapter
- The T.Bone EM700 Stereo Mic Set
- Trust Compact USB powered 6W speakers
- Type C charger black (15/20W)
- UGREEN Micro HDMI to HDMI Adapter
- UGREEN SD Card Reader
- USB 3.0 4-Port Hub
- USB 3.0 Type-C to SD & microSD
- USB 3.0 Type-C to SD and microSD
- USB 5V Power Supply
- USB C to USB A
- USB DMX
- USB to DMX interface (RS485 FTDI)
- USB-3 Type-C Oculus Link Cable
- USB-C Plug to USB-A Socket USB 3.0 Adaptor
- USB-C extension cable
- USB-C to Ethernet Adaptor
- USB-C to USB
- USB-C to USB-A Adapter
- USB-C to USBC-C cable
- USBA 3.0 extension cable
- Viglen Wired Mouse
- Viglen wired keyboard
- Vive Tracker 3.0
- WD My Passport 5TB SSD external USB hard drive
- Weicon Wire Stripper
- Xbox Wireless Controller
- Yunteng VCT-520RM Tripod
- Zoom H1n (Stereo Audio Recorder)
- Zoom UAC-8 Audio Converter
High Holborn
- 1.5A 5VDC Plugtop Power Supply
- 10W Stereo Amplifier Kit w/o Speakers
- AC/DC Adapter 12V 2A
- AC/DC Adapter 9V 2.5A
- Adafruit BNO055 Absolute Orientation Sensor
- Adafruit CRICKIT Robot and Chassis Kit
- Analog pH Sensor / Meter Kit
- Arduino Leonardo
- Arduino Uno
- BBC Micro bit
- Bela
- Bit:Bot XL
- Contactless Smart Card Reader
- DFRobot Fingerprint Sensor
- DFRobot Heart Rate Sensor
- DFRobot MP3 Player
- ESP32
- Electret Mic Amp
- GP2Y0D02YK0F Sharp Distance Sensor
- Galvanic Skin Response Sensor
- Grove - Piezo Vibration Sensor v1.1
- Grove - Temp&Humi Sensor
- Grove Dust Sensor
- Grove Electromagnet
- Grove Moisture Sensor
- Grove RS-485
- Grove Sound Sensor
- Grove Speech Recogniser
- Grove Water Atomisation
- Jabra Evolve 20
- KEPO Miniature Speaker
- LCD Display Backlight
- LCD Display Backlight (Blue)
- Leap Motion Hand Tracker 2
- Lexar USB-A+C SD Card Reader
- Logitech C920 PRO 1080p Webcam
- MICROE Air Quality Click
- MULTICOMP PRO MP001186
- Micro HDMI to HDMI Adapter
- NeoMatrix 8x8
- NeoPixel Ring 12
- NeoPixel Ring 16
- NodeMCU ESP8266
- OLED Screen 1'30"
- Raspberry Pi 5
- Raspberry Pi 5 27W USB-C Power Supply
- Raspberry Pi Camera 2
- Raspberry Pi Power Supply
- Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2
- SOIL MOISTURE SENSOR & WATER LEVEL SENSOR MODULE
- Simple RF Link Kit
- Stereo 3.7W Class D Audio Amplifier - MAX98306
- Time-Of-Flight LiDAR Module
- TruOpto 5m Addressable RGB LED Strip
- TruSens HC-SR501 PIR Motion Detector
- UHS-II MicroSD Card Reader
- USB 2.0 A to B Cable - 1m black
- USB-C Ethernet adapter
- USB-C Male to USB-C Male Cable
- USB-C Plug to USB-A Socket USB 3.0 Adaptor
- USB4 - 0.8m black
- Whadda WPI405 RFID Module
- Zoom H1n (Stereo Audio Recorder)