Would Arduino consider for the long term releasing Limited Edition versions of popular boards which are made on transparent/translucent plastic? A premium model could fetch a higher price while using less copper on the board (of which the shavings could be recycled).
I would be interested in buying several units in the long term after they could be mass produced.
Any idea on a potential release date (in years, less than infinite would be good).
The idea stemmed from a shield concept which could be made using a Voltera One and translucent frosted red Perspex. It makes the wiring more visible and gives a rarely-seen futuristic aesthetic to the product.
Whilst not against that idea I was thinking more of the Arduino boards not the breadboard.
A special version of the board would entice me more than the breadboard.
Transparent plastics tend to fall into two categories:
lacking desirable high-temperature capabilities (first, you can't bond copper film to them, and then you can't solder to the copper without melting the board.)
Expensive polymers that aren't clear, normally come in very thin forms, anddon't have a lot of structural integrity (if only because of the thinness.) (For example, flex PCBs made on yellow-brown Kapton polyimide.)
(normal "FR4" PCB material isn't a simple plastic. It's usually fiberglass (mostly glass) infused with low-flamability epoxy resin. I wouldn't be close to "transparent" even without any of the dyes that are normally added.)
