MakerS as innovaTors Chapter 1 What Are LittleBits H ow many electronic items have you used today When you woke up this morning you might have brushed your teeth with an electric toothbrush Maybe you used a hair dryer after your shower Or a printer to print out a homework assign ment Did you turn on a TV today How about a phone tablet or computer At take-apart workshops also known as wreck labs or appliance autopsies you get to take apart unused machines and discover the electronic circuits inside Make sure you ask an adult before taking anything apart 4
littlebits With LittleBits you can build your own electronics Chances are good that you have spent a lot of time today using electronics Researchers say that the aver age American spends over 11 hours every day using smartphones listening to the radio watching TV or movies playing video games or using a computer Yet many of us do not know how these items actually work It is often hard to open up electronic devices to examine their parts and see how they work It can 5
MakerS as innovaTors even be dangerous You might hurt yourself or break something Luckily you can use LittleBits instead Inventor Ayah Bdeir created LittleBits as a way to encourage people to become more familiar with how electronics work She also hoped that her creation might inspire users to invent new devices of their own One of the most important ways that inventors cre ate things is through experimentation Experimenting means testing out different things to see what happens The Magic Is in the Magnets One of the things that makes LittleBits special is that they connect to each other using magnets When the bits snap together energy can flow from one piece to the next through wires inside each piece This is how all electronics work But instead of using magnets regular electronic parts are usually connected by soldering or welding Solder is a type of metal that melts at a lower temperature than other metals This melted metal is used like glue When it cools it hardens and holds pieces of metal together Welding connects two metal pieces by melting each piece joining them and letting them harden together Welding is stronger than solder However it is more difficult and requires special training to do Both soldering and welding also need special tools LittleBits can be snapped together and broken apart without any tools at all 6
littlebits LittleBits are great for experimenting because they are modules That means you can easily attach or separate each building block or bit You can build new things by using the same pieces over and over This might remind you of another popular toy Lego bricks When Bdeir created LittleBits she was inspired by how every Lego brick can be attached to any other With enough bricks you can create any kind LittleBits are easy to snap together and take apart 7
