14 April 2010
Electronics: Leaving the breadboard behind
Today we'll talk about strategies and techniques for finishing/hardening your work,
including soldering, power supply issues, audience-proofing, etc.
best practices
- Polarized power connectors:
"Put the red wire here and the black wire here" == certain doom. Use simple, polarized
plugs whereever you can
- Zero daily configuration:
Use global power switches, startup scripts, timers, etc. so that your work is as
autonomous as possible.
- No loose wires, breadboards, aligator clips, etc. Do not install a prototype!
- Make things modular:
Make functional blocks that are removable/replaceable,
use screw terminals or sockets rather than hard soldered connections between modules,
make sure there is access to all modules without taking apart/destroying the installation.
- Replacement parts:
Expect that something will fail. Provide extra motors, lights, fuses, powersupply, batteries,
special screws, special tools, etc. Include a DVD with all software, media files, etc.
- Harden your work, if possible:
Expect people to mistreat your work! If it's delicate, they will break it. If you want them
to touch gently, they will hit. Things will get dirty. Wine will be spilled. Applications will
be quit. Email will be checked. Loose bits will be stolen. Sometimes you can build in
protections, sometimes you can't. Either way, think through the repercussions of people
mistreating the work.
soldering, aka "soddering" (USA! USA! USA!)
Here's a nice list of soldering resources from LadyAda:
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/soldering/thm.html
Now we're going to solder up the World's Simplest Oscillator circuits we
made at the beginning of the term!