AgIC is a startup founded by Tokyo University graduates who aim to revolutionize the world of electronics by making it accessible to everyone. And it looks like the group has already made an impact — AgIC’s project on Kickstarter successfully raised almost $80,000 in a matter of two months, far exceeding its initial goal of $30,000.
The Kickstarter project offered DIY circuit-printer kits, conductive-ink pens and special paper — all you need to be able to print or draw circuit boards at home. Designed to be an easy way for designers to test circuits as well as a fun way to introduce kids to electronics, the ink used in the pens and printers contains conductive silver nanoparticles, so there’s no need for breadboard bases or wires.
Visit the official website: http://agic.cc
Very inspiring !
The DIY printer-conversion kits and ready-made circuit printers can still be pre-ordered from the AgIC website, at ¥30,000 and ¥60,000, but if that’s a bit much, the brush and regular markers should be available soon at around ¥2,000 to ¥3,000 (around AUD $32)
Official description – About AgIC
AgIC, named after Ag Inkjet Circuit, transforms home printers into circuit board manufacturing equipment.
Recent advances in material science have made it possible to manufacture magical conductive ink. This printing technology was developed by Yoshihiro Kawahara (U of Tokyo) ,Microsoft Research Cambridge and Georgia Institute of Technology. Their research paper (http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2493486) received the best paper award in Ubicomp 2013, a top-tier conference for ubiquitous computing.
The ink dries in a few seconds and conductivity emerges instantly when the traces are drawn on our photo inkjet printing paper. You can make circuits exactly as you use a printer using ordinary ink at your home and office.
Find AgIC on Kickstarter: http://agic.cc/kickstarter/ (coming soon, stay tuned for their official page update)
Time to get my own set ! You can preorder on site.
Source: Japan times
Image credits: http://agic.cc
