PCB Assembly
In this tutorial, we provide the list of electronic components and show a step-by-step how-to assembly of the components in the PCB.
The electrical design is open-source and was developed using Autodesk Eagle software.: If you want to extend/modify it, the project is available here.
In the end, it is expected to get a PCB like in the figure below.
To assemble the PCB, it is necessary to buy some electro-mechanical components. To achieve a low cost of production of the robot, we decide to use parts available on sites like eBay and Aliexpress. But feel free to buy from other companies.
This step will be necessary to acquire the components in the bill of materials (BOM) and a PCB. To access the list of eletro-mechanical materials click here.
In this file, we can find specifications, quantities, and where each component will be placed. Note that we have an optional built-in module for battery charging using IC TP4056, so if you want to build the board entirely, buy these components as well. Otherwise, you can just buy a TP4056 module and use the battery's auxiliary pin to recharge the robot.
The figure below shows the robot's two battery charging modes. In practice, we have chosen to use an array of TP4056 modules.
For making the PCB, we chose to use JLCPCB. However, there are others, so feel free to choose. About the color of the PCB, we opted for the white color because it improves the brightness performance of the LEDs, but there are no restrictions on this.
Although we used some SMD components, we had no difficulty using the soldering iron to solder them. That way, a stencil board was not needed.
To start an order, simply download the Gerber File, and send it to the PCB manufacturing service of your choice. Just pay attention to these requirements:
- Finished Copper >= 1 oz;
- Min Hole Size: 0.3mm
- Min Track/Spacing: 6/6mil
Example using the JLCPCB manufacturing service.
With the PCB and all components in hand, let's start assembling the robot's mainboard.
Tip: Solder the smaller components first.