Today's In-Class Work

Progress:

Today in class, Aaron and I finished the 12 by 12, 18 by 18 and 24 by 24 PADS and placed them on the canvas which has been modified to the size of the copper clad. Here’s a photo of our layout. 

 

Our next step is to delete the unnecessary wire connections in order to create the patterns. Also, as you can see, there are a lot of wasted space, so I am trying to optimize the surface by placing more pads and move them around. I believe that we will be able to print this layout and begin our etching process on Thursday !

Progress Report

Since the Steminar presentation, I have realized that using Photoshop may not be the best way to complete the PCB designing. Photoshop is definitely time-consuming since the copy-and-paste function doesn’t work as easily as we thought it should be. Even when we switched to another software, Fireworks, the layers would get weird and messed up. So, now I have been using QCAD to complete the PCB designing. I find the schematics on QCAD really helpful and useful. It definitely made my job a lot easier as well. 

STEMinar Presentation

STEMinar Presentation Slides 

Weekly Progress Report - 3/20

Progress
This past week we made some more progress. On Thursday we found out why the voltage drops as it goes across the 1 MΩ Resistor on the breadboard. The right side of the breadboard must be shorted to the ground.

Problem
As previously mentioned, the right side of the breadboard is somehow shorted to the ground. We must figure out how it is shorted to the ground. In addition we need to change it so that it will not be shorted to the ground.

Plan
Figure out how the circuit is shorted to the ground. Change the layout so that it will no longer be shorted to the ground. Test the circuit with the improved layout.  See if the circuit functions properly. If not, continue searching for problems in the circuit.

Standard Trace Width

http://www.expresspcb.com/tips-for-designing-pcbs


Found it!!

"A good trace width for low current digital and analog signals is 0.010″.

Traces that carry significant current should be wider than signal traces. The table below gives rough guidelines of how wide to make a trace for a given amount of current.

0.010″ 0.3 Amps
0.015″ 0.4 Amps
0.020″ 0.7 Amps
0.025″ 1.0 Amps
0.050″ 2.0 Amps
0.100″ 4.0 Amps
0.150″ 6.0 Amps" 

Small Update

In the photo above, it shows the new pixels design. It's 12 columns by 12 rows. The shape will be a "U" with a straight line on the top.

I have also created a spread sheet to find our ideal trace dimensions since we do not have most information to use the trace width calculator.

Progress and PCB Layout Wiring

Wiring Calculator

http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/?p=25/

We need to find what's the minimum dimensions needed for the wiring when I piece all of the patterns together. The wires cannot be too thick because that will complicate, or too thin that it won't work.

Updated Layout Pattern