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8. Electronics Production

Group Assignment

Individual assignment

Pump Working

This week, I decided to change the design of my board. However, before doing so, I assembled part of the circuit with the water pump in a real setup to ensure it was working. During testing, I checked how the circuit responded to the control signal, measured the current consumption, and confirmed that the pump turned on and off according to the specified cycle.

My circuit operates from an external power source, so I used the L7805CV voltage regulator to convert 12V to a stable 5V to ensure the proper operation of the microcontroller and other components of the circuit that require this voltage. To stabilize the regulator's operation, I used two 100µF capacitors — one on the input and one on the output. and the IRFZ44N transistor as an electronic switch. The transistor receives a signal from the RP2040 and turns the pump on or off according to the specified cycle.

Then, I switched to KiCad and began designing the schematic for my board.

Schematic Part

For the convenience of further work on the board, I added pin headers for each of the pins. I divided the board into two sections: one for input components, such as the pH meter, TDS meter, and water flow sensor, and the other for outputs, such as the water pump, aerator, and grow lights.

After the drawing was ready, I exported it in SVG format. In the latest versions of KiCad, the process of exporting in SVG format has changed. Here’s how I did it:

  1. Click on Fabrication Outputs, select Gerbers, and in the Plot formats section, choose SVG.
  2. Then I select the layers I want to export and click Plot.

The file locations are automatically saved in the folder where the drawings were saved.

Since this method exported the entire working surface, I separated the schematic using Adobe Illustrator, setting the size to match the PCB from which I need to cut the board.

G-code Generation

After these steps, I went to the ModsProject website to generate the G-code for CNC. There, using the right mouse button, I opened the program by selecting Programs → Open Program → Roland → Mill 2D PCB.