I thought it would take an hour to make all the custom cables I need to connect the shield to the front panel, RJ45 jack, etc. Luckily I started with the RJ45 jack cable so I could test the boards. I needed to crimp a connector onto each wire and slide them into the female […]
hardware
PCB Assembly
Over the course of a couple nights I got the PCBs cut up and mostly assembled. I used a Dremel router table with a 3/32″ router bit to cut the PCB down to its individual elements. It worked okay, but I wouldn’t want to do too many this way. The small boards tended to shutter […]
Cable management – Check.
The modular LED strip holders and a box for them were the results of a couple hours at Techshop this evening. Modular Cable Management Laser cutting the holders took about 27 minutes for the 88+ pieces. Then it took another 8 minutes because my wood was 24″ wide rather than the 26″ that I designed […]
PCB!
My first PCB run was ready this morning from Bay Area Circuits. What a great company – they made two of them in their run and gave me both boards, even though I only ordered one. I’ll be using my Dremel tool with a router attachment to cut out the individual boards. I’m aware of […]
First PCB Fab Run!
All the PCBs are designed and ready to print. I was able to combine them onto one panel for a single run. High confidence in the Hand Controller board and most of the Mega Shield, but only the communications portion of the shield has been tested. The other parts are primarily plugs, so easily fixable […]
Hand Controller v3.1
Swapped out R3 for a potentiometer and made VBAT and GND traces wider on the PCB.
PCB plan
Bay Area Circuits will built a 2 sided board for $30 (educational discount) up to 50 sq. in. I’m planning to do a single board with all my PCBs on it: 2 Hand Contollers (1.25″ x 4.75″) 2 Sensor Boxes (1″ x 2″) 1 Mega shield (2″ x 4″) 1 RJ-45 dual jack (main box […]
Sensor Box v1
There will be a box at each player’s station. One RJ-45 connects to the Mega with power and TX/RX. The other RJ-45 connects to the hand controller with the same power and TX/RX. It also uses the other data pair to connect a photo transistor that will have a beam from a laser pointer for the […]
Hand Controller v3
Changes: Uses PoE going into the Trinket’s BAT line. This can regulate from between 5.5v and 16v, so I have the option of PoE up to 16v. Other chips on the board are powered from the Trinket’s 5V regulated output. Now using one 75176 for Tx and Rx rather than two. This allows me to […]
Hand Controller v3 PCB ready for fab
I have the board for the Hand Controller designed. Need to add the Light Sensor Box and a shield for the Mega. Passes tests for manufacturing at Bay Area Circuits where I can get a 50sq.in. made for $30. I want to panel a single board to get at least 2 hand controllers, 2 light […]