EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff => Topic started by: Solder_Man on March 24, 2022, 12:36:40 pm
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Hey all,
I wanted to share a little demo with my results so far from this "instant" breadboard of sorts that I've been designing for the last couple of years (I call it Project Pockit, because I aimed for compactness :-) ). And wrote some details further below in this post.
DEMO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3F9OtH2Xx4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3F9OtH2Xx4)
So, here's the technical overview:
Many of you guys are familiar with reusable designs in ECAD, and more tangibly, IC breakout boards.
This project is essentially an extension of that same kind of segmentary thinking, in an effort to make my rapid prototyping faster. Obviously, it's not a solve-everything project (embedded engineering is an actual field for a reason!), but I've found the platform great already for numerous device constructions.
I began by making several modular PCBs, each with one specific function and following a universal connector format -- matching a base Core board which provides a grid of connection points. Then, I added 3d-printed housings (with reopenable snap-fits for easy modification of the internal circuits) on all of the blocks, for protection + aesthetics.
The Core board is based around an STM32F4, and an optionally attachable Pi Compute module (Quad-core 1.5 GHz Broadcom BCM2711) for more intensive use-cases (some of which are demonstrated in the above video).
The connection "slots" on the Core board essentially act as breakouts of the processor pins. Each slot includes shared buses like SPI and I2C, but also some unique GPIO, ADC, and other signals.
The electrical connection of the blocks is accomplished using spring-loaded pins ("pogo pins"), while neodymium magnets are used to create mechanical attachment, which I've tested to be way stronger than what I typically need for prototypes.
Been a long journey on this project, and satisfied with the results, but hoping to make further firmware refinements, especially for the automatic adaptive behavior that I showed in the video.
Would be happy to hear technical suggestions or answer questions from you guys!
- Solder_Man