An electrifying education kit, built by two MIT graduates, is making music on Kickstarter. tinyTesla's singing sparks have raised nearly $260,000, with roughly a week left to fundraise, marking the second successful crowdfunding campaign for Medford, Mass.-based oneTesla.
The tinyTesla is a desktop Tesla coil anyone can build; all the process requires are some soldering skills. When construction's complete, the coil is able to shoot lightning and play music using electricity — the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack included:
Along with the tinyTesla, the team debuted "tiny's big brother" oneTeslaTS, described as "the ideal compact Tesla coil, with a focus on reliability, ease of assembly, portability and usability." What's more, the coil can give Bach a modern-day run for his money:
oneTesla, co-founded by Heidi Baumgartner and Bayley Wang, had its first rewarding run in January 2013. The duo's do-it-yourself kit, aptly-named oneTesla, raised more than $169,000 on Kickstarter. After receiving feedback from hundreds of previous builders, the team decided to put a spin on its initial kit and roll out something smaller, designed with ease of construction in mind.
To build a tinyTesla, the oneTesla team said all interested individuals need a good soldering iron, a multimeter and hand tools, such as a screwdriver, wire cutters, diagonal cutters and needlenose pliers, as well as a small amount of glue. Although the list sounds lengthy, they assure middle and high school students can build the kit — under adult supervision, of course, given the shooting sparks.
oneTesla's overarching mission is "to promote hands-on learning by providing kits that are well-engineered, beautiful and fun to build." To help assist users, the science savvy startup has created tutorials on soldering for beginners and desoldering, among other advanced lessons.
To see the tinyTesla in action, take a look at the team's promotional video and then head to the Kickstarter.
Images provided by oneTesla
