The next stage of the reflow oven project is moving to a custom PCB for the controller electronics. Overall the board is based on the ATmega32u4 with a DS3231 RTC. The LCD module is intended to be driven by one of Adafruit’s Serial backpacks. There is an area of LED indicators (something I learned from a previous project) and some extra VCC/GND pins sprinkled about.
One of the most commonly used phrases when writing software is “reusable code.” From the Wikipedia article on “Code Reuse”. Reusable code is:
the use of existing software, or software knowledge, to build new software.
Software coders have been sharing and re-using code since they first start programming. So why can’t this same idea be applied to hardware design? Doesn’t it seem silly to redraw the ATmega328 for an Arduino based project or even the really simple linear regulator circuit? Well, it can thanks to HackEDA you can start using reusable code to save time (and from creating mistakes).
Tools like National’s (now TI) WebBENCH have allowed engineers to design power supplies without downloading any software for quite some time. Recently I got an account at Upverter.com. This web application is focused schematic capture with social sharing.
Just announced this week, Digi-Key is looking to enter this area with their new web based tool to share schematics, Scheme-It(sm).
I haven’t had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but I look forward to comparing to Upverter and Eagle version 6 soon.
This screen shot is an all-layer view of my TLC5940 painter board. The 1st draft featured two TLC5940s, but I decided it made the board too large. Instead, I wanted the ability to mount the painter boards around the LED’s shadow box. This should make routing all the wires much easier.
