Most contemporary electronics devices which are built today have small to very small components, called SMD (surface-mounted device) components. In 2019, 83% of broken devices and other electronic waste is shipped to the global south without any form of environmental processing, limiting the potential of these components. The amount of e-waste we collectively produce will only grow over time and to remove the increasing influence of governmental and corporate ownership of our digital lives we need to take back control of our devices. To achieve this objective, we need to familiarize ourselves with forgotten circuit-building techniques.

The DEDBUG project revives and facilitates free-form, point-to-point construction techniques for those small, surface-mount components and allows for the construction of circuits with SMD components without the requirement to design a circuit board beforehand. The workshop will cover the background of free-form construction, each of the DEDBUG tools and how to work with components salvaged from e-waste to make new (and weird!) devices. Each participant will leave with flex-pcb sheets with the DEDBUG toolkit and basic electronics tools to experiment with at home. As the toolkit fits in a C5 sized envelope, it will also be shipped to workers in the informal sector surrounding waste management sites throughout the global south.

The weekend has two main threads: enhancing legibility of the electronic landscapes and pcb’s, learn what chip or component can be useful. Salvage the chips and components we want to use to build a circuit with.

Infos about the workshop
> Bring trash electronics to work with
> This workshop has a limited amount of tools, for 10 participants. We want to bypass the first come first served principle, so we ask for you to introduce yourself and why you want to come. Please send your e-mail to wendy@constantvzw.org
Deadline for registration: 21 May 2023
> Open for all levels, we help each other
> Lunch is provided by Constant

*This workshop is hosted by Unbinare, an anarchist e-waste reverse engineering laboratory and Constant.
*For more information -> https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/an-ontology-of-electronic-waste