The Raspberry Pi is a great little board just ripe for hardware hacking and the quickest way to build hardware is on breadboard.
So we are going to build a small adapter that will connect the signals from the RPi Expansion Header to your breadboard.
You can find some of my earlier Raspberry Pi projects on my blog which is here :-)
So we are going to build a small adapter that will connect the signals from the RPi Expansion Header to your breadboard.
You can find some of my earlier Raspberry Pi projects on my blog which is here :-)
Step 1: Materials and tools
We don't need much in the way of parts or tools to build the adapter:
Parts:
1x 26-W IDC Box Header 2.54mm
2x 13-W Pin Strips 2.54mm
1x piece of Veroboard / Strip Board
1x 26-W Ribbon Cable with 26-W IDC Headers
Tools:
Cutters
Pliers
Sharp Knife or Scalpel
Small Screw Driver
Vice or helping hands
Soldering Iron
Multimeter or Continuity Tester
Parts:
1x 26-W IDC Box Header 2.54mm
2x 13-W Pin Strips 2.54mm
1x piece of Veroboard / Strip Board
1x 26-W Ribbon Cable with 26-W IDC Headers
Tools:
Cutters
Pliers
Sharp Knife or Scalpel
Small Screw Driver
Vice or helping hands
Soldering Iron
Multimeter or Continuity Tester
Step 2: Cut Veroboard / Stripboard to size
The first thing we need to do is cut our piece of veroboard / strip board to an appropriate size.
I cut mine so it had 6 holes across and 15 holes long. You can use a hacksaw, sharp knife, scalpel or cutters to reduce the strip board. I used a cutter and pliers.
Once we have our strip board cut to size, we take a sharp knife or scalpel and carefully cut the tracts down the center of our strip board.
I cut mine so it had 6 holes across and 15 holes long. You can use a hacksaw, sharp knife, scalpel or cutters to reduce the strip board. I used a cutter and pliers.
Once we have our strip board cut to size, we take a sharp knife or scalpel and carefully cut the tracts down the center of our strip board.
Step 3: Solder IDC Box Header
Once we've cut our strip board to size we can solder the 26-w IDC box header to it.
It's easier if you use something to hold the strip board will you try to solder it. I used a drill vice, but anything that will keep the strip board steady will do.
Fit the 26-W IDC Box Header to the strip board and place into vice. Start off by soldering the four corners of the IDC Box Header. Once done solder the rest of its pins.
It's easier if you use something to hold the strip board will you try to solder it. I used a drill vice, but anything that will keep the strip board steady will do.
Fit the 26-W IDC Box Header to the strip board and place into vice. Start off by soldering the four corners of the IDC Box Header. Once done solder the rest of its pins.
Step 4: Fit Pin Headers
Because the I'm only using single sided strip board, we need to adjust the pins of the Pin Headers so they can be soldered to the strip board and still have sufficient pin length to make a good connection with the breadboard.
To do this you gentle push each pin through the plastic holding it until the end of the pin you're pushing is flush with the plastic. A small screwdriver is good for this.
Fit the adjusted pin headers to the strip board and solder them into place.
To do this you gentle push each pin through the plastic holding it until the end of the pin you're pushing is flush with the plastic. A small screwdriver is good for this.
Fit the adjusted pin headers to the strip board and solder them into place.
Step 5: Test
It always makes sense to check your soldering to make sure there are no short circuits. You can visually check it and use a multimeter set to resistance or continuity to buzz out the board.
Step 6: Get hacking !
If you're happy with your soldering and there are no shorts or other issues, you're now ready to connect a breadboard to you Raspberry Pi.
Use a 26-W IDC Ribbon to connect you RPi and breadboard adapter
Use a 26-W IDC Ribbon to connect you RPi and breadboard adapter
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This is the sort of thing the Pi was designed to inspire.