Print functional PCBs ‘in minutes’

1 min read

University of Toronto startup Printem has developed a system that is said to allow fully functional PCBs to be created using a custom designed film and any home or office printer.

“Simply put, Printem does for the making of electronic circuits what Polaroid instant film did to traditional photography,” claimed Printem’s cofounder Varun Perumal Chadalavada, a PhD student at the university.

“Just as Polaroid took a multistep process of developing photographs in a dark room and condensed it into an instant point and click process, Printem allows users to create PCBs in less than two minutes.”

Users simply print their desired pattern onto the Printem film, expose it to the light for approximately 30s and peel off the top layer to reveal a fully formed and functional PCB.

Printem says that, by removing the equipment and cost barriers to producing key electronic components, it has the potential to change hardware development, prototyping and the mass production of electronic devices.

“Printem could enable people all over the world to quickly create and prototype hardware,” explained Chadalavada.