Introduction: Flux Capacitor Shield for Arduino
Hi guys!
This is my very first PCB project.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet JLCPCB, which produces high quality PCBs for a good price. So, I made an Arduino project inspired by Back To The Future movie: the Flux Capacitor Shield!
All the steps to make this shield are shown in the video, but here I'll describe it a bit more.
Step 1: Design and Production
I don't have many skills with PCB design, and have tried Fritzing some time ago and liked it very much. It's quite easy to use also if you are a beginner.
Once the design is ready, we have to export the Gerber files (it's available to download), and must be in a compressed folder.
Then, we go to jlcpcb.com to get a quote and make the order.
Attachments
Step 2: Solder the Components
With the boards in hands, it's time to put all the components together.
We need, for each Flux Capacitor Shield:
- 3X 220 ohm resistor;
- 9X 3mm LEDs;
- male header pins;
- 2X push button.
Started by putting the header pins on the Arduino UNO board, which also gives us a good support while soldering.
Then solder the resistors and cut its long legs.
Solder the LEDs and cut the legs.
And solder the push buttons.
A tip here... put an additional strip of headers to increase the space between the shield and the USB jack on the Arduino UNO board, to prevent short circuit.
Step 3: Code It and Have Fun!
With everything soldered, it's time to code it.
I made a simple code to test the shield, that is available to download.
I still have to code the two push buttons. The idea is to increase/decrease the "flux" (the speed of the blinks) while pressing the push buttons.
Great Scott!