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MadLab is a unique, hands-on electronics workshop for children and adults. In the workshop participants solder electronic components onto specially-designed circuit boards. There are currently over thirty MadLab kits which people can make - the simplest being Flashing Lights, the most complicated a programmable robot which is able to find its way around a maze. The excitement of MadLab is learning how to use a soldering iron, and actually being able to make and take home a working electronic circuit.
MadLab is part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, which is a forum for science events within a festival atmosphere. MadLab was formed more than ten years ago and during its existence has grown from a tiny workshop to a major event staged for science festivals around Europe and beyond (as far as Australia in fact). In this period over 75 000 MadLab kits have been built in more than a dozen countries. It has featured on the BBC's "Blue Peter" and "Newsround" programmes, on national and international radio stations, and appeared in newspapers and popular science magazines.
Our workshops attract a very broad range of people in terms of age, ability and social background. For most of them MadLab is their first opportunity to construct an electronic gadget. MadLab and the Edinburgh International Science Festival aim to broaden the exposure of people of all ages to interactive electronics.
You can teach yourself a little about electronics here.