The translucent PCB from Make magazine is most likely a thin fibreglass PCB that's been wetted with water, making it translucent -- there's not much copper, no soldermask and no silkscreen layer.
The completely transparent block with all that internal structure looks to me like a fluid logic circuit. That is, a logic circuit (AND, OR, NOT) implemented not with electrical signals but with fluid pressure, either air, water or hydraulic fluid. I wonder how it's made? Some variant of the lost-wax process (investment casting)?
Melka. Your second picture is of a MEMS device, a lab on a chip. the device is a form of plastic and the pattern describes a network of microfluidic channels used for transport and mixing of fluid. There are some good applications for these devices in bio-MEMS, as a form of blood seperation and using more exotic techniques whcih use the polarisability of different cell types at certian frequencies to identify errant cells quickly.
A spot of market research then, if you don't mind...
One simple project I have finished on a breadboard right now I'm looking to finish nicely is a wireless trivial buzzer receiver. Hardwarewise, it's an IR receiver, an RGB LED, a piezo beeper, and batteries. When it receives an IR code, it lights the RGB a colour depending on the code, sounds the buzzer for a second, delays several more seconds and then turns off the LED and waits for a new IR code.
For the enclosure I want as small a form factor as possble, somewhere to mount the IR receiver with as wide a viewing angle as possible, and somewhere to mount the LED with a diffuser. At the moment I'm looking at a very over-sized project box which makes the LED look dinky and I still don't know what to do about the IR receiver.
As far as paying, I am prepared to, but it is a one-off project so I wouldn't want something with lots of upfront fees and that really limits the budget.
I'm not equating my efforts to fine art but I just received my very first self-designed custom PCB from a board service bureau. I had to show it off because it's pretty exciting to see your Eagle files turn into something you can hold in your hand.
Just had a really good discussion with a friend about how the circuit board is the pinnacle of "Form Vs Function"
Got my etching fluid today along with some copper board.......already own a screen printing bed, so am really looking forward to playing with from and function.
Don't know why (maybe the colors) when I saw this picture, I immediately thought that maybe I should someday design a PCB that would look like a satellite view of some town.
If you ever watched the google maps image of washington over the capitole, the geometric patterns are beautiful.
What I like on this one is the way he used the RGB led pins to make a support for the ping pong ball
follower : from your blog post about ponoko unboxing, I can say that you can build some pretty black shiny enclosure with laser cut acrylic ^^
But unless you're a pro at bending plastic without destroying it, it will always be some kind of rectangular box...
