ATARI PUNNIK CONSOLE

Written by

veerle

in

,

The Atari Punnik Console is based on the famous and well known “Atari Punk Console” diy beginner synthesiser circuit, and works the exact same way, accept it is modded and re-designed to work with touch and conductive materials such as E-textiles, conductive yarn, nails, screws, copper, random dead electronics and body contacts.

Atari Punnik Console inside cigar case enclosure

The Atari Punnik Console is inspired by a knitting tool called a “Punnik Poppetje” in Dutch, which is a wooden tool used for making certain knits. This kit is the perfect sonic pocket annoyance for kids and adults looking into getting more soldering experience, for seasoned noisemakers who want to involve touch sensing into their live sets, or synth parents wanting to get their kids involved into synth DIY and soldering.

The kit is developed in 2025 by Veerle Pennock and Michelle Vossen in 2024.

SENSORS to use with the ATARI PUNNIK CONSOLE

  • Conductive yarn and E-textiles
  • Screws, Bolts, metals, copper pads
  • Light Dependent Resistors (LDR’s) aka light sensors
  • Conductive Paint (such as Bare Conductive paint or make your own)
  • Conductive Charcoal and/or Pencils
  • Electronic components such as Potentiometers, Faders, Rheostats, Force Sensitive Sensors, Thermistors (temperature sensing), Bendable Flex Sensors.

You can connect these sensors in series with each other, so one after the other. As long as you keep the signal flow from A->A separate from B->B. or in Version 2. of the APC keep the CAT icons and STAR icons together. (more on this in the build doc)

Build Documents

here you find the build doc for soldering the Atari Punnik Console V1.0.

Atari Punnik Console Build Guide V1

here you find the layout for the Atari Punnik Console V2. You can follow the same build guide as V1.0, the biggest change is we changed the sensor connections A and B to illustrations of cats and stars to make it easier to know what needs to be connected with what.

Test your unit and connect a bunch of random conductive materials in-between the signal paths! As long as the CATS are connected to the CATS and the STARS to STARS in the end ..you can add as much conductive shizzle in between!

E-Textiles? What?

The world of E-textiles is another rabbit hole in this universe to fall into, and if you want to know more about that you can visit one of our favourite websites for references and project ideas regarding E-textiles you can visit this massive online repository:

Kobakant Wearable Technology Documentation Wiki

https://www.howtogetwhatyouwant.at

DIY KIT FOR EDUCATION

Michelle and Veerle have taken the Atari Punnik Console to various festivals, workshops and cultural gatherings of all sorts over the last year. Some practical information if your interested in a beginner soldering workshop by us:

  • The Atari Punnik Console can be build in 1-2 hours depending on age and soldering speed
  • The kit is suitable for ages 12yr and older.
  • The DIY kit comes with all the components needed, and some extra materials for making your own tactile sensors and conductive interfaces, and a set of alligator clips.
  • The APC is a great learning tool for young kids and students, where we dive into: the basics of electronics, what it means to make an electronic circuit, how conductivity works and why things work and why they don’t work?
  • We offer education packages for teachers and self-thought educators for some of the DIY kits so you can solder them with participants, even when we are unavailable to give the workshop ourselves in person. Get in touch with acidsolderclub@gmail.com about this if you’re interested in hosting a soldering workshop using the APC.
  • all of the above can be in English or in Dutch

More posts