8. Electronics Production¶
This week we had to:
-
characterize the design rules for our in-house PCB production process
-
submit a PCB design to a board house
Characterizing the design rules for our SRM 20¶
First, we downloaded the test shared by Neil:
Then, we used mods to create the g-code for our CNC. These are the parameters we used for the v-bit:
And here is the g-code path:
We then prepared the PCB blank by taping it to our mdf sacrificial table:
We need to align it carefully with the edge:
Then we clamp it for few minutes in order to ensure good adhesion:
Once it’s done, we place it inside the Roland SRM 20.
We put the 1/64 endmill in place and screw it gently (without using too much force). We need to be careful not to insert the endmill to deep inside the collet as our machine has some kind of floor that prevents the head to move too low.
This is the result for the 1/64 bit:
And the comparison between 1/64 and V-bit:
Submitting a PCB design to a board house¶
Then we had to prepare a PCB to send to a board house. We chose the board from Mkhitar. We chose jlc pcb. Kicad has a dedicated plugin for jlc pcb, so we first installed it:
Once installed, exporting the relevant files is very easy:
Then we just import the Gerber file into jlc pcb and then we chose FR4 as we cannot do it in-house. The price was 6$ for pcb production, but the shipping is much more expensive:
This price is for 5 pieces:
