Week 08 — Electronics Production
Group assignment
- Characterize the design rules for your in-house PCB production process: document the settings for your machine.
- Document the workflow for sending a PCB to a boardhouse.
- Document your work to the group work page and reflect on your individual page what you learned.
Individual assignment
- Make and test a microcontroller development board that you designed.
Learning outcomes
- Describe the process of tool-path generation, milling/laser engraving, stuffing, de-bugging and programming.
- Demonstrate correct workflows and identify areas for improvement if required.
Checklist
- Linked to the group assignment page
- Documented how you made the toolpath
- Documented how you made (milled, stuffed, soldered) the board
- Documented that your board is functional
- Explained any problems and how you fixed them
- Uploaded your source code
- Included a hero shot of your board
Documentation
References
- Fab Academy reference (Quentin Bolsee)
- Gerber to PNG converter (FabLab Kerala)
- Namita Aravind - Week 8 documentation
From Week 6 design to Week 8 production
In Week 6 Electronics Design, I designed a simple PCB with a button and an LED for the Xiao microcontroller. For Week 8, I prepared the manufacturing files and reviewed the full PCB production workflow.
Gerber export files (quick notes)
- Board definition: GKO (outline), GDL (documentation layer)
- Copper: GTL (top), GBL (bottom)
- Solder mask: GTS (top), GBS (bottom)
- Silkscreen: GTO (top), GBO (bottom)
- Paste mask: GTP (top paste)
- Drill: DRL (PTH holes), GDD (drill drawing)
- Extras: FlyingProbeTesting.json, How-to-order-PCB.txt
Boardhouse workflow (sending PCB files)
I uploaded all Gerber files and used the boardhouse preview flow. Then I selected Generate All and Generate PNG to review manufacturing layers before ordering.
The generated previews included top layer, traces, drill layer, and board outline.
Lab setup and reflection
Based on the Asia review recommendation, I bought a tabletop CNC. Since my lab is in another city, having a local machine will make PCB production and iteration much faster.
