Simplebots PCB/Breadboard Mount

[nog3]

So in order to make the wiring easier for participants and to lower the Simplebot cost there's two things we have discussed doing.

1. Switch to Arduino Nano instead of Leosticks.
2. Build a PCB with headers to mount the nano along with the breadboards and other components (Ultrasonic sensors, bluetooth adaptors, power plugs)

So, I'm using this issue to track progress on the PCB and to take feedback/suggestions.on improvements for it.

[ajfisher]

Cool. So this morning I set up a new repo for the SimpleBot to exist in it's own right. I have kicked off an improvement thread there: nodebotsau/simplebot#1 and I think this would be a good place to flow this sort of stuff through to as I'm about to make a stack of other physical changes to the design too.

[garrows]

Good idea but use Arduino Micro since it is slightly better.
Also instead of building a PCB, why not just put them on a breadboard? That way the builders can still play with hooking up the hardware.

I got mine for $25 from http://www.adafruit.com/products/1086

[ajfisher]

It's running Leonardo which is less ideal given all the timing related issues I ran into on the weekend (especially when you want to go wireless). Also I've had a few upload issues relating to the leonardo bootloader - it's not quite as straightforward as a standard Uno style.

So that was some of the motivation for going with a nano (also we can get them at quite reasonable pricing)...

Re the PCB. The idea was to keep the breadboard there for enhancing. This was more out of a convo @nog3 and I had about having the ability to hand the SimpleBots to someone with no electronics expertise and say "hey go program this" and it behave a bit more like Lego.

For those wanting to be more hands on, you'd still build it up from scratch entirely.

[nog3]

Largest reason is the cost, the Nano can be had for less than $10 per, and
even with the PCB and some headers we'll be saving up to $20 per kit.

On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 12:21 PM, Glen Arrowsmith
notifications@github.comwrote:

Good idea but use Arduino Micro since it is slightly better.
Also instead of building a PCB, why not just put them on a breadboard?
That way the builders can still play with hooking up the hardware.

I got mine for $25 from http://www.adafruit.com/products/1086

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Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/21#issuecomment-44487711
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[ajfisher]

FYI Everything to do with SimpleBot code / layout / design has now been shifted to https://github.com/nodebotsau/simplebot

[ajfisher]

Closing this off as PCB idea got constrained by time even though I had a first pass. Shipping has just meant getting tests is taking a while so won't be ready for NBD.