Completed and tuned circuit board with OSH park PCB and Organicelectrics silk screen logo. The board generates four servo pulses with a sine wave pattern.
I have completed my very first PCB! This is a big milestone achievement as it is a major foundation of professional and useful electronics design. For a long time I was die hard about point to point soldering, or using simple hand made prototyping boards. I also didn’t feel confident spending a lot of money on a board if it wasn’t going to have long term use. Now, I can use this completed board as a signal generator to test wing mechanisms and it can be safely and securely used in a messier environment.
To design this board I used the latest version of KiCad. I made several mistakes in this design and here is the list of things I need to remember and double check next time.
Double check every single component and connection to the working prototype.
Make sure every single net is connected even if DRC appears good.
Leave slightly more room around trim pots and ICs
Don’t cheap out on bulk amazon trim pots, they are low quality and not worth it.
Those of you familiar with OSH Park will recognize their signature purple solder mask. I decided to use this company because the boards are made in the U.S.A. and I would rather spend more on a lower carbon footprint to ship my circuit boards. I recognize that electronics manufacturing is not the most environmentally friendly industry. After touring a PCB factory, I was struck by the vast quantities of poisonous chemicals they use to etch and plate circuit boards. It reminded me of the chemicals that changed the Joker in the 1989 Batman movie. If my goal is to raise interest and support for insects and the environment, it would be silly to deliberately create things which harm the environment. For small prototyping boards like this, the impact is minimal, but the craft is special.
3D render of circuit board from KiCad
For years, I also enjoyed the aesthetic of point to point or deadbug style soldering for my projects. I like the idea that diodes and resistors are like nerves and internal organs. They could be connected in 3D space instead of being confined to a 2D board. However, I have come around to circuit boards for several reasons. First, they do exist in 3D space and thanks to flexible boards, can even be folded around mechanical components to fit in tiny spaces. Modern camera design uses this technique. A second reason to use boards is because the components themselves are actually mechanically designed to be more structurally secure when soldered to a board. For instance, the leads on a transistor act as a tripod to a circuit board, but when soldered in 3D space, may lose their geometric advantage. Finally, I will ultimately need to create my circuits with tiny SMD components. I will not be able to avoid using circuit boards with these components.
Silkscreen and soldermask layers output from KiCad
I was also able to put my Organicelectrics logo on the circuit board. This is another interesting avenue for PCB design. The traces, solder mask, and silkscreen can all have graphic design elements, and then the entire board becomes not only useful, but a canvas for art. This circuit board catches me up to 1980’s electronics technology. Thanks to modern manufacturing and computer aided design tools, I can quickly accelerate my tech into the 90s and up to today. Once I convert to SMD and try flexible boards, I can also take 3D models of the boards and place them in 3D renders of robots. This will allow me to make perfect assembly plans and professional looking products. It is still my art, and not meant to be a prototype for mass manufacturing. Audience expectations for electronics design is high, so it needs to look clean and professional to be considered high art.