Hi all,
This is a newbie question and unrelated to Arduino itself. I want to understand how people keep a project "decent" when it comes to organising cables and boards. I understand that I could 3D design cases for the specific stack of boards/components that I use, but is there any other practice to easily keep a series of components nicer looking? Thank you.
Welcome to the forum
I don't mind things looking untidy when experimenting, but consider using a PCB or at least perf or strip board if you make your project permanent and solder all components rather than using jumper wires
The board can then be housed in a box, either ready made or 3D printed if that is more appropriate
Thank you, how about when what I want to stack is a ready-to-use board like, for instance, the AZDelivery SD Card reader... it's not that I can solder it, it's more about stacking practices using the holes in the board... I understand that I can just 3D print with holes and stack with some screws...
If you have boards stacked using the sockets on say a Uno or Mega and they are secure then you can treat the stack as a single entity and house the stack in any way you want
However, if the system is going to be subject to vibration, such as when attached to a machine or in a vehicle then I would take extra steps to ensure that the boards in the stack could not come apart
Leads from the boards to switches, LEDs, displays etc should be soldered to the board and, of course, to the other components
Getting power to the project and removing excess heat when it is in a box,, also need to be considered
Another thing to consider is access to the USB port should updates to the sketch be required as it can be a nuisance to pull apart your project to apply a minor change. In your project it sounds like you will also need access to the SD card
Having said all that, my own projects, such as a mobility scooter battery voltage monitor, use smaller boards (ESP32s), are mounted on perf board, are insulated with clear shrink tube that allows on board LEDs to be seen, have a fixed flying lead to provide power and use Bluetooth for input and output
Really, it is horses for courses
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