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Circuit Build Room
SAFETY IS THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY WHEN WORKING WITH ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS, FABRICATING ELECTRONIC DEVICES, AND/OR TESTING ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
In addition to the normal risks associated with sharp and/or moving objects, the electronics workbench, also carries a slight risk of fire, burns, electrical shock, and hazardous fumes. You must remain alert and attentive and ALWAYS use the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety glasses, fume extractors, etc. when working with these tools. No food or drink is allowed at the electronics workbench.
The Circuit Build Room is equipped with all the required materials/equipment for electrical/electronic design, prototyping, and testing
The Circuit Build Room is outfitted with four (4) soldering work stations (including soldering iron, desoldering tool, and benchtop fume extractor)
Oscilloscopes, Function Generators, Multimeters, and Power Supplies are also available for users to work with.
The Circuit Build Room is also outfitted with the Discovery Lab's Voltera V-One Conductive Ink Printer designed for prototyping and assembling Printable Circuit Boards (PCBs).
- Oscilloscope Guide
- Function Generator guide
- Multimeter Guide
- How to Use a Multimeter
- [Pro Tips For Using Your Multimeter] (https://www.fluke.com/en-us/learn/blog/electrical/fluke-pro-tips?srsltid=AU7gw4W2oBqgv5g15ZPqmdOPsfYwTjjXR1tlFci1ks1gq6vmoq6oZn5i)
- Power Supply Guide
- Soldering guide
- Introduction to Electronics Prototyping
- Introduction to Soldering
- Introduction to PCB Prototyping with the Voltera
- Oscilloscope How-To
Electronic components are stored at the workbenches in the Circuit Build Room or in the cabinets located in the Fabrication Lab and Circuit Build Room. See our Equipment and Material Inventory for a Detailed breakdown of where all components are located. We keep the following components stocked in the Lab.
- Microcontrollers
- Breadboards and Wire
- Various Connectors and Cabling
- Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes (range of values)
- Buttons, Switches, Potentiometers
- Various Sensors
- LEDs
- [Introduction to Circuits] (https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/education/) Online textbook, video lectures and tutorials to help get you started with circuit design.
- [Tinkercad Circuits] (https://www.tinkercad.com/circuits) Circuit simulator that can interface with your 3D projects
With the Voltera V-One users are able to print circuits, drill holes for through-hole components, dispense solder paster directly on to your PCB, and reflow your PCB components using the printer's built in 550W heater.
- Additive manufacturing technology. Process starts with a sheet of FR4 and adds conductive ink where there should be traces.
- Traces are made of conductive ink. Conductive ink has a higher resistance than copper.
- Requires specialized / propriety solder. We keep in stock, but can be harder to use vs. normal solder.
- Training Required: Circuit Build Room Training and Voltera Training & Peer Leader Check-off
- Build Area Size: 135 x 113.5mm (5.3x4.4in)
- Minimum Clearance and Trace Width: 0.4 mm
- Recommended Clearance and Trace Width: 0.5 mm (or greater)
- Minimum Hole Size: 0.2 mm
- Recommended Minimum Hole Size: 0.7 mm
- Maximum Hole Size: 1.6 mm
- Via Hole Size: 0.7 mm
- Via Pad Size: 0.9 mm
- Available Materials: Voltera Consumables
- Stocked Materials:
- Supported File Types: Gerber
Below is some recommended guidance for designing your PCB and links to reviewed/recommended resources.
There are two “main” PCB CAD programs: KiCAD (free and open-source) and Altium (the industry standard), though there are literally dozens more. These each offer their own advantages and have their own disadvantages that won’t be covered here. But once you learn one, learning the others is often mostly just figuring our the new layout and where all the icons and settings are.
- Voltera V-One Circuit Design Voltera guidance materials specific to using the V-One for design and fabrication.
- Georgia Tech KiCAD Tutorial Video series that highlights key principles for using KiCAD for PCB design.
- PCB Design TutorialAn old but excellent tutorial on board design. Covers a wide variety of topics from the basic (e.g. what are “thou”s) to more advanced (e.g. design for manufacturing). Highly recommended, even if some of the details are a bit out of date.
- Vias: Vias connect the top and bottom layers of a board and are an essential component for designing a two-sided circuit. However, Vias are difficulty to install and required using a rivet to connect the top and bottom layers of a board. Smaller via sizes can be achieved by soldering a fine wire through the hole, but this is extremely time consuming. Via rivets are available in (drill size) 0.7 mm, 0.9 mm, 1.3 mm, 1.5 mm, & 1.7 mm. Larger sizes tend to be easier to install at the cost of more board space. For all sizes, add 50% to the drill size to get the pad size.
We do not sell electronics parts. If there is a specific part you need for your project, you will need to purchase that part directly from an online vendor.
| Name | Description | Qty | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| RIGOL DHO 4804 800MHz Digital Oscillioscope | Visualize and analyze signals and waveforms of electronic systems | 1 |  |
| RIGOL DM3068 Digital Multimeter | Test your prototype circuits/electronics. Measure voltage, current, and resistance. | 1 |  |
| FLUKE True RMS Multimeter | Troubleshoot errors/faults in your electrical circuit or electronic device. | 2 |  |
| RIGOL DSA 815-TG Spectrum Analyzer | Visualize and analyze the power of a signal | 1 |  |
| RIGOL DG2102 Waveform Generator | Produce precise and repeatable waveforms essential for testing and designing circuits or analyzing signals | 1 |  |
| RIGOL DP832 Power Supply | Poweryour prototype electronic systems | 2 |  |
| Microcontrollers | Digital computer systems that help operate larger devices | 1 | |
| DIGILENT Analog Discovery 3 Test and Measurement Device | Portable USB-powered test and measurement device (a digital oscilloscope, logic analyzer, waveform generator, pattern generator, and much more.) | 1 |  |
