Been meaning to get an Arduino to play with and to get back into electronics (something I've always dabbled with but never fully understood) for a long time now.
Finally got one and a load of components etc.. (amazingly cheap nowadays) to get me started and did what probably every Arduino newbie does, blinking, PWM RGB LED, Shift Registers etc..
So, now I have a project that I'd really like to finalise onto a PCB and needs some advice as to how to achieve this.
What do other users (especially in the UK where I've struggled to find lost cost PCB fabricators) use to create the PCB design, and turn it into it's final form ?
Also, should I make my board into a shield (so it plugs into an arduino) or should I incorporate the processor and support circuitry into my PCB ? And are there any sample layouts/circuits to help with this ?
Depends on what you consider low cost. Companies that provide PCB fab services are few and far between to start with. The fab process doesn't get cheap till your ordering large volumes of boards. If you doing a small quantity a set of 10 boards can cost you anywhere from $200 to $400 US. If your only looking to make one or 2 for your own use then i suggest you make it yourself. Either way the first thing you need to do is get some software that will help you to create the PCB layout. There are many free and paid options out there. Here are a couple.
Once you have your layout completed then have it printed on a laser printer and look up how to etch your own PCB. It would probably be a good idea to make the first one yourself so you can make sure the layout is correct and nothing was missed. It would suck to have a bunch of bad boards made because the layout wasn't quite right.
You can always create your own board, especially if it's for a one off. Have a look on Ebay for the equipment, and you`ll find it really cheap.
You`ll need:
Copper Clad Board
Iron on Transfer Paper
Drill
0.8mm Drill bits (ideally get a set of different sizes)
Etchant - ferric chloride or ammonium persulfate which is nicer to use
Plastic tub for etching
You can get the lot for £20 or under.
There are a huge number of guides on the net on making your own PCB's, and also free software that will enable you to do the job (Cadsoft Eagle is the best and has a limited freeware version).
I've been playing with Fritzing for the last 8 hours, laying out my board, schematic and pcb, and while it lacks a few simple but essential features (such as alignment tools, and finer rotation) its a great little program. I hope it's a project that continues to develop.
The last time I made a PCB it was 26 years ago and it involved UV exposure and gloves up to my armpits I am definitely going to have a go with the laser toner method - even the double sided laminator method looks achievable - even for me.
The project I am working on is a simple 32 LED light show which I hope to arrange on a circular PCB. I'm a coder by day and I've created a simple way to describe patterns and timings to display on it, and while it's fairly simple it's also quite complex to layout. I think I will run my own PCB etching until I have a final version and then get some professional boards made so I can make a few for family and friends (or even give them as kits so they get the bug) - if it's not too expensive.
Thanks for the pointers. I'll check out the links now.
Take a look at PCBExpress for the PCB layout program - not as powerful as Eagle, but a much less learning curve.
If you wish to do your own PCB boards, "IF" you can find the GBC personal laminator over there at a decent price, that's the way to go rather than iron on - here in USA I order the laminator direct for $25USD shipped... and it works like a champ!
Good luck and have fun - oh, and by all means, use the Arduino for breadboarding and developing the project, but once it's working, move the uC to a fabb'd up PCB for a stand alone working product.
This stuff is the most fun - and this group is the most helpful around.
I'm a fan of stripboard too. Cheap, available and easy to work with. Not quite as neat as as a pukka board but you don't have a lot of work before you start sticking the components on it.
I'm also a fan of building the processor into the circuit (avoids those wierd pin spacings if nothing else )
There are a few different methods for etching. The most common one is soaking it in the bath of the etching solution. This tends to waste allot of the solution. Another method is to use a sponge to rub the solution over the board. You still use a plastic container to hold some solution but you don't need as much.
defsdor - I'm in a similar position, but a little further on. I too used to photo etch PCs back in the 70's & early 80's - and because I still had the UV box up in the loft, I'm still using that method for my prototypes.
I bought an Arduino last year and did some experimentation to get to know the basics and then made my 1st standalone project (complete with a few basic noob errors like no decoupling :-[) I used PCBExpress for the layout because it was easy to pick up, but the limitations soon became obvious (particularly as I needed a lot of rotated and precisely placed components).
Since then I have been redeveloping my original custom project (lighting rig for a model) into a simpler more generic device for commercial sale so I have invested the time getting to know Eagle and investigating fab houses.
I'm still hand etching single sided prototypes until I know the circuit is what I want, then I will be able to shrink it considerably onto a double sided board, but with a schematic & layout package like Eagle you are assured that any layout variations will still be functionally correct.
a couple of UK fabs I've looked at so far are
If anyone has any experience with either, I'd be interested to hear!
I used Tecbridge a few weeks ago and I got a very good deal and excellent quality boards. 50 double side boards with top silkscreen, 90mm x 40mm size came to £138 including setup, delivery & vat.
I think their minimum order is 3 boards which will obviously be more expensive per board but probably still a good deal.
Are the tecbridge boards with soldermask etc? Looking at their site they have good prices. Still going to use batchpcb for protos, just because of the price, but this looks a good choice for UK based fab house. Do they allow multi designs per panel?
I am not sure about the multi panels but I think I read on the Tecbridge website that they assemble multi customer boards into panels and send the files out to the far east to be manufactured, if so, then multi designs shouldn't be a problem, but check the website first.
jabber - did you use Eagle to design your boards for Techbridge? Did you run just the standard drc and was there anything else needing a tweak in the CAM job?
I used the geda gschem & pcb programs on linux and sent the gerber files to Techbridge.
A very helpful bloke called me and said that they had thinned some of the text widths on the copper layers to give better clarity but other than that the gerbers were fine.
For all the pcb's I have had commercially made I have only ever used gerber files.
I am definitely going to have a go with the laser toner method - even the double sided laminator method looks achievable - even for me.
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