Idea Sticker

When I heard we need to design a sticker for Fab Academy, I really wanted to think outside the box. I wonder if I could make part of the sticker be a circuit, and have a lightbulb turn on. I would like to make circut be the box, the switch be part of the trailing thought bubbles, and the light bulb to connect to the circut across the corner of the box. The lightbulb would then light up when someone pressed the begining of the thought bubble. I could have a solar batter inside the box, and the words around the outside. I could put batteries at the corners or in the other bubbles, and adjust the design.

Designing the file in CorelDraw:

1. I adjusted the size, and shape of the thought bubble, and lightbulb images I found on the internet.

   

2. I traced the bitmaps, and deleted unwanted parts.

3. I cut layers to make a single line drawing. This would cause me problems later, because I forgot I was making a sticker file, not a laser engraving.

4. I placed the lightbulb over the box, shown in red, so that an led could be placed at the corner to complete the circuit, and light up the bulb.

   

5. I cut the filament, and connected the box so that the circuit is broken where an led will go.

   

   • This was done by creating a rectangle over the filament
   • creating a copy of the overlap from the lightbulb image, shown in green
   • and making a copy of the overlap of the box, shown in yellow
   • the green filament was then cut from the yellow. You can see red where the box is no longer covered.
   • cut the yellow pieces that are between 2 parts of green from the red box.

   

   At this point I realized I had a problem: I had forgotten that I wanted a file that would cut the outline to make a sticker. I had all my lines with thickness, but when changed to hairline it wouldn't work as I wanted. However, I forgot that the cricut software would work better if I had left the line with thickness, since it will cut around lines, even hairline.

   • I created a new image surrounding the filament and the box.

   

   The green was moved for this picture, and then put back.

   • I created a new shape from the nodes within the filament loops, shown in yellow, and cut that shape from the new outline.

   

   My next problem occured when I zoomed out to see I had accidentally deleted half of my box!

   

6. I fixed this by adjoining lines to make the box.

Another problem was when I needed to make cuts so that my copper layer would be a full circuit. The knife tool is in the crop menu on the left of CorelDraw.

Using the knife cutting tool, I made this segment. I was then able to delete it.

• I added a text block.
• I had to save each cut layer as a svg file. Then upload it into Cricut Design Studio.
• I made sure to attach each group of cuts that I wanted together.
• I used 4 vinyl colors to see how I liked different ones, and chose 3. I still hope to upgrade my sticker to a working circuit, but that will have to be another project.
• I used a new blade to make sure I had clean cuts, but the super sharp blade cut all the way through my sparkly copper backing.

Video of the vinyl being cut:

I used my contact paper to transfer layers, as I have done in the past, but it was not sticky enough. I had a lot of difficulty keeping my cuts in their location as I moved them.

One reason for this was because the line thickness was so small. Static was causing the vinyl to repel the thin pieces, and any tool I used stuck to the sticker more than the sticker to the transfer tape. I decided to make the lines thicker.

I did this by making the outlines and fills of the cut the same color in CorelDraw, and making the line thickness 8pt. Then I cut that from a rectangle, and deleted the extra lines. This did lead to small issues of having to use a knife tool to cut some parts that should not have been connected like the box and cloud.

I recut the sticker.

And carefully added each cut layer by layer. When I came to the copper layer I found that the blade cut all the way through the backing. This is anoying, but not a big issue. I had been worried about the small cuts, and changed my blade to a new one. I hadn't expected it to be so sharp.

My final sticker doesn't light up, but one day I hope to make one that does.

Ideas / Research:

• The lights from our practice soldering project were incredibly small, I could use one of them

  • LEDs need 3v to run, maybe 1.8v for red, what about infrared? Could it send a signal to a bigger device? No, only 1.2-1.5v

• Copper tape can be used for the circuit. Can it be cut on the Cricut or silhouette machines?

  • This was mentioned in a class chat: Using 3d printing and copper tape to make pcbs. It shows using copper tape to make a circuit by covering a 3d printed design.
• What can be the switch? Fingertip?

• What can be the battery? Small coin or solar?

  • Make a solar powered model house with chibitronic circuit led stickers — This tutorial makes an LED circuit from a solar cell pulled from a cheap garden light, an LED, and copper tape.
  • Mini Solar Cell BPW34 — This site has a small solar cell that looks like a bracelet link. 4 in series turned on an LED.
  • Easy Joule Thief Circuit — A Joule Thief circuit boosts output voltage.
  • Small rechargeable battery: Lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Hearing aid batteries size 10 (yellow) (1.45v) — use 2 in series with a red light.

• Other light sources? Use glow in the dark paint / vinyl