I've been working on a LED-Strip-Project for quite some time now and I finally arrived at a point where I would like to get it soldered together to be able to connect the actual powersupply. For now I have been testing my code n stuff on a breadbord.
Basically I have an Uno and there are the following things connected to it:
Hc-05 connected to normal pins over softwareserial (power, ground, rx, tx)
Connected over USB to computer
Also getting power over the vin because I want to send date from my computer but I dont want my computer running all the time
Connected to 3 mosfets with resistors which are controlling the strip
Now, the Uno is not my problem -- what I'm unsure about are the mosfets. Each of them are going to handle up to 12v, 2Amps each and I was told soldering those onto a board could be quite pricey, because the board has to have a certain thickness. I cant estimate how prices we're talking here, if its too expensive, is there a cheaper way of doing it? I'm pretty good at soldering, had a 3d-printer for a few years, it's just the first time doing something like this all by myself.
Do I use the pin headers for the uno to put it onto the board upside down?
Can someone tell me roughly what I need to buy?
It seems like you are trying to make a PCB for your project. I have made several and I can tell you it is very fun and exciting.
I'm not entirely sure where you heard that board thickness can be a problem for high-current applications. I have had normal-thickness board (about 1.6mm) that handle much more than 2A without trouble. One of the more important considerations concerning PCB design is trace-widths, which are directly related to the amount of current flowing through it. For example, a trace carrying 2.5A requires roughly 55mil (1 mil = 0.001 inch) of width.
There are several guides on how to design PCBs to meet these higher power circuits, just do some googling.
If you are just starting to learn PCB design, may I recommend Autodesk Eagle, as it is very user-friendly and can be a great place to start.
Are you talking about getting a custom PCB made or using protoboard or stripboard?
Delsey:
Each of them are going to handle up to 12v, 2Amps each and I was told soldering those onto a board could be quite pricey, because the board has to have a certain thickness.
I'm no PCB expert, but I've never heard of that. Of course the traces on the board need to be wide enough to handle that current (you can use a tool like this one to find out how wide: PCB Trace Width Conversion Calculator | DigiKey). Note that the copper thickness is a factor in trace width calculation but that's not the board thickness.
If you're using protoboard or stripboard you can use appropriately sized wire for the current.
Delsey:
Do I use the pin headers for the uno to put it onto the board upside down?
Typically PCB size is a factor in cost. If you're ending up paying extra just to make the PCB work with the Uno then you might consider using the smaller Nano or Pro Mini instead, or just reproduce the necessary parts of the Uno's circuit right on your board.
If you're using protoboard or stripboard then be aware that the Uno has a screwy off-grid header that makes it hard to use in this way. The Nano and Pro Mini have all their headers on-grid and so they are very easy to use with protoboard/stripboard.
You may be thinking of the thickness of copper in the traces. If the 2 amps is for some period of time, or is an average current, you may need heaver copper, not just wider traces.
You can get different weight copper on boards. As someone else said look up chart as to how wide to make the trace. For a hobby board (we have more time than money) you can get by with less copper and just run a bead of solder on the 2 amp traces.