8. PCB Production
Hero Shot of the Week
Summary
Work Process
Calendar
Date | To be done | What was done |
---|---|---|
Thursday | - 9h Santi meeting - 10h local meeting |
- Santi is a nice guy - Intro to stuff - Vinyl Cut |
Friday | - FabLab normal work morning - 3D Print PCB |
|
Saturday | ||
Sunday | ||
Monday | - Morning Optic Laser PCB - Bantam PCB |
|
Tuesday | - FabLab normal work | |
Wednesday | - 12h Local - 13h Regional - 15h Global |
Introduction
Henk and Erwin made an introduction.
They showed us how to use the little PCB CNC and how to control it from ModsProject
So I have a lithography machine but I guess I can put that away into a cupboard and forget about it.
My work
Vinyl
So I wanted to try out to make a battery level indicator. For some reason most of them are doing it with 15V. I want to use it for 1.5V AA & AAA batteries.
The simplest one I found is this one.
That I will combine with this table.
The LED I have are the following
- RED
- BLUE
- GREEN
So I quickly did a KiCAD file. Printed to save it as PDF.
Found an online PDF to JPEG and also to PNG converter. For JPEG Silhouette Studio said that the resolution was too low. No error message for the PNG type.
After some parameter testing I tried to cut my file.
The lines are too small.
Back to KiCAD. Need fatter lines.
...
It does not work.
Even with 1mm line width. I am still loosing traces in the cutting process. 😕
From left to right: 0.2mm - 0.5mm - 1.0mm
The copper paper might be too old ? Maybe I am doing something wrong ?
Who knows. It is a fail.
3D Printing
Bantam
Export file:
PCB Editor
File > Fabrication Output > Gerber >
- F.CU
- Edge.Cuts
& Other settings if needed
.> Plot
FabAc Schedule
.> gerber2img
drag & drop onto the web
Settings:
- Black & White
- Fill edge cut to have the edge cut separately
DL the images. They now can be used in ModsProject to be cut out.
Learning Outcome
Digital Files and Links
- KiCAD for Vinyl
- PCB Sharing Site
- Just like thingiverse
- It's github repo
Assignment Check
- group assignment:
- characterize the design rules for your in-house PCB production process
- submit a PCB design to a board house
- individual assignment:
- make and test a microcontroller development board that you designed
- extra credit: make it with another process