Physical Computing Lab


About the Physical Computing Lab

Photo of 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.

Soldering & Electronics Bench

What is on the electronics bench?

Photo of the electronics benches on in PR_B502

There are a number of electronics benches available with soldering facilities as described above, as well as other test equiptment:

Soldering & Electronics Bench

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.

Soldering & Electronics Bench

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
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

  1. Wear the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)/Safty goggles (You can find them in the draw under the electronics benches)
  2. Turn on the soldering iron (You will hear the bib sound when it reaches the state temperature), clean it, and tin the tip
  3. Make sure the joints are clean
  4. Immobilize the joint
  5. 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.

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!"

Apply_Solder_Wire.jpg

Example of Soldering Joints

A good soldering joint should be:

What does wetting mean?
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

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.

Multimeter

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



Soldering & Electronics Bench

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:

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:

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.

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

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:

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

General stripboarding tips:

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

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:

Not so good for:

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:

Not so good for:

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:

Not so good for:

Screw Terminal

Good for:

Not so good for

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:

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:

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:

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:

I want my circuit to be wireless

This is another really common thing to want to do. Core options:

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

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

Websites

Virtual Learning and Emulation

Videos

Where to buy components

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

Where to buy components

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

Where to buy components

The following list is of common suppliers, other than eBay...

Electronics

UK

Arduino boards, shields, etc...

Components

Robotics + components

International

Materials

Craft materials

Model shop

Mechanical parts

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

Greencoat Building

High Holborn