When DIYer Dung Dang wears a "Rocket Badge," he is a walking billboard for how technology enthusiasts can deploy their passions and creativity to have fun with electronics.
Dung helped create the MSP430™ microcontroller (MCU)-inspired rocket-shape badge, a whimsical light-up device with flashing LEDs that displays customizable messages, such as "MSP430 Rocks!" to pique interest in DIY projects amongst customers and students.
The badge comes as a kit that teaches users to build the device from start to finish.
Watch this video to see the Rocket Badge in action:
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Dung worked with cubeberg from 43oh.com, a popular online MSP430 community, to develop the badges.
For his day job, Dung helped to start the LaunchPad ecosystem, creating platforms others can use to learn to make their own electronics (Educational BoosterPack, Edu MK II and TI Calculator BoosterPack). Outside work, he reapplies these products to make fun embedded and electronic projects.
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| Attendees of the World Maker Faire in New York City solder Rocket Badges. |
"I am also passionate about not only coming up with and designing my own projects, but also defining new platforms and finding ways to spread the knowledge to hopefully inspire and enable others to do the same thing."
Dung first introduced many of his colleagues to the Rocket Badge at a DIY Showcase Event on TI’s Dallas campus in May. Now Dung sends the badges to shows around the world to demonstrate the cool things the low-power MSP430 MCU can do. Hundreds of Rocket Badges were shipped to Maker Faires in New York and Rome and MSP430 community events last month for that purpose.
The badge comes with a variety of unsoldered components, so it requires users to solder various pieces onto it. They can solder on site if the proper equipment is available.
"Building something yourself is sometimes the best way to learn. Hopefully they can hone their soldering skills and learn a bit about MSP430 and electronics along the way," said Dung, noting that the badge project helped coin the phrase "Solder it yourself (SIY)."
Dung and other TI colleagues also take the badges to schools to show that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning can be fun.
"We continue to introduce the badges and use them to promote electronics learning and soldering at local schools. It is always rewarding to see youths and adults alike excited about electronics and become amazed at how much cool technology a microcontroller can enable," he said.
The Rocket Badge is just one example of ways TIers like Dung are creating projects that inspire employees, customers and students to innovate.