Tyler Jacobs' Logic Gate Display Is a Desk Toy for Learning the Basic Building Blocks of Computing
Designed as a surface-mount soldering kit with minimal components, the board is available in three colors: Green, blue, and black.
Maker Tyler Jacobs has launched a desk toy soldering kit designed to teach Boolean logic while lighting up your office — combining AND, NOT, OR, and XOR gates with bright LEDs and slide switches.
"I made it because I was excited to start college, and wanted to make something artistic related to my passion of engineering," Jacobs explains of the kit. "I also wanted to create something beautiful that could help others get inspired about science and technology. What makes it special? It is pretty unique, I have never seen anything like it at least. I made it myself with a lot of love. My mom said its special."
The PCB, designed to sit upright on a desk, is supplied as a complete soldering kit — including batteries and a USB cable for power. Four logic gates are represented: A simple single-input NOT gate and dual-input AND, OR, and XOR gates. Each includes a schematic symbol, a truth table, switches as inputs, and LEDs as outputs.
Jacobs has designed three versions of the board, all identical bar their color: A traditional green PCB, a blueprint-like deep blue, and an eye-catching black. A stand is included with the kit, propping the PCB up for desk-top use.
The kit, which requires surface-mount soldering, is available on the TSJ Electronics Tindie store at $17.99; a fully-assembled version is available on the TSJ Electronics website at $29.99.