tiffany tseng

Overview

For Beyond Bits and Atoms, a course taught within the school of education, I worked with Coram Bryant and Ben Grossman-Kahn on designing a toy for a child named JJ. After visiting JJ's house and finding out more about what he liked, we decided that we wanted to make a challenging construction toy for him that reminded him of his family.

JJ's cube is made of 9 magnetic cubes, each containing a different electrical component. When the cubes are arranged in a specific way, the circuit closes to light up an LED in a cube. All the cubes were cut on a laser cutter and were designed in SolidWorks. Each face has an image of JJ's family or his favorite cartoon characters.

When we presented the toy to JJ, I realized that the magnetic cubes could also be arranged on a vertical surface like a fridge of metallic door. It was fun to watch JJ find new ways to play with his toy!