I made my own heating control with an Arduino, I now have a bunch of wires in a breadboard with a screen and wired buttons, a temperature probe etc. Basically a frankenmonster looking thing. I want to do something to make it at least look professional I can't hang a breadboard with a bunch of wires for my house thermostat. How does one turn our breadboard inventions into something professional/pretty? Thanks
You can use something like Veroboard ( stripboard) to make quite neat circuits , or why not have a go at making a PCB?
You need to specify the board/package size where the enclosure is large enough for the PCB.
The pcb size will based on the components that it holds.
Once you have that , you can send the schematic to a board house and have some pcbs made.
I have no idea of your experience and background. If you really want a pcb get yourself a copy of KiCad, it is free. I use it on my linux systems however I believe it is available for the PC and Mac. There are no size layer etc limitations. There are thousands of libraries for this program. There are a lot of videos etc on how to set it up and make it work for you. Currently it does not have an autorouter other then that it is a fantastic package. Try this link to https://jlcpcb.com/ for a PCB house, they have a lot of information on line on what you will need to do. Start with the schematic editor and learn how to use the tools. Everything is there to generate the Gerber files for your PCB except your design which you enter as a schematic drawing. You simply zip the files and upload them to JLCPCB they make it real easy. When you get comfortable do your first pcb design, then throw it away and do it again, you will be surprised how much easier, better and faster it will be the second time. To do this you will need to know what parts you are using and any power devices how much current to adjust trace sizes etc. You get a silk screen so you can put your name, version or whatever else you want. This is what I used to do my first SMD parts. In my previous life I had engineers etc that would do all of this for me. This will probably keep you busy for the next month or so depending on your background. When the board works you can develop your packaging. If you are confident you can do it as soon as you have your PCB layed out.
Good Luck & Have Fun!
Gil
Good Luck & Have Fun!
If the OP is going to learn board routing he's going to need a lot of luck it is not going to be much fun.
I use prototyping/veroboard - I sell a bunch of nice prototyping board (double-sided, FR4, instead of single-sided phenolic crap like most "veroboard" and "stripboard") in my Tindie Store: https://www.tindie.com/products/drazzy/2-x-4-prototypingproject-boards/ - I think my prototyping board is the best around, but one might say I'm a bit biased.
If I'm going to be making more than a couple of something, though, I'll generally design my own PCB. I use Eagle for PCB design; it's not free, but the interface sucks less than KiCad imo. Not saying it doesn't suck, but it doesn't suck as much - they're cad programs, so they're guaranteed to have a tough learning curve. Any program that you can make a living by using will have a tough learning curve.
As an aside, routing PCBs by hand is good for the soul. Autoroute is for losers - not only does its result look awful, it's just not very good at it's job.
"Autoroute ...not only does its result look awful, it's just not very good at it's job."
That usually comes down to poor placement of parts, wrong grid selection, lack of use of ground planes, wrong signal class widths, etc. All beginner mistakes.
Routing by hand can be therapeutic, relaxing.
Isn't Eagle for students still free, for up to 80x100mm double sided boards? I haven't looked since I got a Pro license that can do unlimited board sizes and more layers than I can keep track of.
Velleman makes ECS1/2 protoboards that are 80x100mm, very good quality. Pricey. If I could prototype a design on one of those, I knew I could route a PCB in Eagle that was the same size.
https://www.vellemanusa.com/products/view/?id=350322
DrAzzy:
As an aside, routing PCBs by hand is good for the soul. Autoroute is for losers - not only does its result look awful, it's just not very good at it's job.
word. I dont know if I agree with the Autoroute comment, I've had EAGLE's Autoroute work well in the past. But theres something to be said about routing your own PCB and making nice parallel lines between all your parts, it's very satisfying when done.
Anyway, regarding the question, I use EAGLE. Write your schematic up using the schematic view, then generate a board file that is linked to the schematic, very convenient! Plus it's free and cross platform. I routed my own double layer board, all SMD, with it!
"cross platform" ??
I thought it was Windows only.
CrossRoads:
"cross platform" ??
I thought it was Windows only.
Yeah, I use it on Windows and Linux computers, works pretty on both.
I also wanted to make simple PCBs so that my projects might look better and work more reliably. I use the Eagle free design tools and use JLCPCB to make my boards for 40ยข each (but you have to buy 5 boards. My last order including shipping was a bit over $5.)
Here's my first four boards:
This was the prototype for the board on the lower-right:
An intermediate format would be the solderable PC boards laid out in breadboard format. Certainly not as fancy has having your own board made, but you can cut 22 gauge jumper wires to measure, and get rid of most of the rat's nest effect. And they're cheap and easy.