Half-Life
A 10-week hardware program from Hack Club. Five themes, designed in the first five weeks and built in the second five.
The five themes
- PCBs — Design a printed circuit board, then have it fabbed and assemble it. (design week 1, build week 6)
- CAD — Model something in CAD, then print or machine it. (design week 2, build week 7)
- Synth — Design a sound-making circuit, then build and play it. (design week 3, build week 8)
- Displays — Design something that drives a display, then wire it up. (design week 4, build week 9)
- Breadboard Computer — Design a computer from discrete logic, then breadboard it. (design week 5, build week 10)
Funding
Each themed project is reviewed and assigned a tier when its design is approved. The tier is your parts budget. Hours you log beyond the tier minimum become sparks, which buy upgrades for the 3D printer you earn by shipping all five themes.
- Tier 1 — $30 for 10 hours. A focused build you can finish over a couple of weekends.
- Tier 2 — $75 for 20 hours. A multi-part build with real integration work.
- Tier 3 — $150 for 35 hours. An ambitious build with novel engineering.