If you’re working with the WS2812B and need to turn corners, you’ll want to check out this NeoPixel Corner adapter PCB from josh.com. It’s a pretty simple board. I came across it as a solution for an upcoming lighting project. In josh’s example, he used a CNC to mill the PCBs. If you’re using one-sided FR4, that might work well. You’ll want to double-check thicknesses if you want to use OSHPark or similar. You can…
Recently I’ve been expanding my retro game collection to include game cartridges imported from Japan. The problem is that I don’t have Japanese game systems (yet). So I’m creating an open source adapter to convert Famicom carts to the NES. Before I submit the PCB to OSH Park, I’m going to run through this PCB Checklist to make sure I don’t forget something silly.
This PCB checklist is something I’ve built over my years of creating boards. If you’ve got tips from your own list, don’t forget to leave a comment letting us know.
PCB Production Checklist
The concepts on this list will apply to almost any PCB software. The tips I give relate to EAGLE, since that is what I use most often. Feel free to comment to add tips for other design software like upverter.com or KiCad.
I am not a fan of relying on the Autorouter in EAGLE — or any PCB CAD software for that matter. When laying out a board, I’ll use the autorouter to get an idea if the part placement is going to work or not. In this case, I was reminded how much autorouters suck! Even after running for while, the autorouter could only route up 50% of the nets (signals). Never Trust The Autorouter As Chris…
What was one of the first things you were taught, when learning to program? “Comment Your Code!” And of course, like all programming students, you ignored that advice. Or, if you are like me, you made vague comments as the lines of “variable called var.”
Tonight I opened up some code I haven’t touched in two years. Code that when I wrote it, made perfect sense to me… at the time.
The code was for my binary clock project, BinBoo. So I need your help, check out the code below and see if you can help me remember what it does!
The Open Vapors project has taken some big steps forward recently. The controller’s enclosure is now a custom box, has a front panel, and the LCD’s menu system is almost done.
