Spring 2020 Students

• Arnab Chakravarty
• Wei Kang
• Yongkun Li
• Cezar Mocan
• Mark Matamoros
• Noah Kernis
• Lynne Yun
• Cy Kim
• Alvaro Lacouture
• Nuntinee Tansrisakul
• Louise Lessel
• Ge Chang
• Xinyue Li
• Cyrus Guo

Class 1

January 31

Class Introduction

Class overview and student introductions.

Link to short presentation from class

Assembling Surface-Mount Battery Chargers

A full guide on assembling SMD components can be found in the SMD Soldering guide.

Homework for next class

• Email me a link to your class blog, and I will add a link to it at the top of this page.
• If you are certain you will be in this class, order the required parts from the Things/Materials page.
• Finish making your Lipo Charger PCB if you were not able to in class.
• Read both the Arduino Uno Components and Arduino Uno Programming guides. Come with questions for next class on the reading
• Next class, bring the following with you:
  1. Breadboard
  2. Jumper wires
  3. Arduino Uno
  4. Wire cutters/strippers
  5. Personal soldering iron (if you do not own one, you can use one from the shop, but there are a limited number)
  6. Soldering iron cleaner (iron mesh or wet sponge)
  7. Personal multimeter (if you do not own one, you can use one from the shop, but there are a limited number)

Class 2

February 7

ATtiny85 Arduino on a Breadboard

Soldering an ATtiny85 Programming Jig

Homework for next class

• Nominate a phrase for the Marquee Sign (due class 5)
• Finish making your ATtiny85 programming jig. Use the ATtiny85 Guide to help you.
• Create an interaction/project with the ATtiny85, along with any sensor and/or output you choose.
• Post documentation of your ATtiny85 project to your class blog.
• Follow the Eagle Setup guide to get a student license, download, and install. Please do this before class.

Class 3

February 14

Introduction to Eagle Schematics

Read the guide Eagle Schematic Design - 1 for details on how to draw a schematic.

NOTE: The guide uses library parts that have since been updated, but that should not affect the usefulness of the guide.

Introduction to Eagle Board Design

Read the guide Eagle Board Design - 1 for details on how to draw a board layout.

NOTE: The guide uses library parts that have since been updated, but that should not affect the usefulness of the guide.

Homework for next class

• If you have not yet ordered bits, please order them now. We will be milling next week. Find the recommended bits in the Tools/Materials page.
• Read through the requirements for the Marquee Sign PCB, and do the following this week:
  1. Check to see which letter you have been assigned (I've added a list of everyone's letter to the google doc)
  2. Install and test the capacitive sensing library, so that you are ready for next week when you will be programming your animation.
  3. Design your PCB in Eagle, and post the following files to your class website:
     1. Eagle SCH file
     2. Eagle BRD file
     3. PDF of Eagle BRD layout
        • Make sure you are saving it with the SCALE set to 1.0, so the PDF file is the exact same size as your final board

Class 4

February 21

Introduction to Bantam PCB Milling Machine

Read and follow along with the guides:

1. Bantam Setup
2. Bantam Milling - 1

Assembling and testing your Marquee PCB

The process for getting your PCB to work is the following:

1. Prototype your interaction/animation on a breadboard using your programming jig and an ATtiny85
2. Program your Marquee PCB with the sketch, using soldered on wires
3. Test the interaction on the PCB, and adjust the code if needed
4. Power of the PCB, and remove the programming wires
5. Power on the PCB, and make sure it works

Homework for next class

• Finish your Marquee Sign PCB, and bring it to next class.
  1. Post your final Eagle SCH/BRD and PDF files to your website/blog.
  2. Post pictures/videos of your fabrication process
  3. Post pictures/videos of the final working PCB
  4. Describe any issues you came across, and things that you have learned

Class 5

February 28

Assemble and Test the Marquee Sign

Lecture: Rules of Electricity

Link to presentation from class.

Class 6

March 6

Advanced Eagle SCH, BRD, and Libraries

Read through the following guides:

• Eagle Schematic Design 2
• Eagle Board Design 2
• Eagle Part Design

Lecture: Common Sub-Circuits

Some example schematics for common subcircuits can be found on our github repo, in the examples/basics folder.

Overview and Discussion of Final Project

Link to presentation describing the final project for this class.

Homework for next class

• Write a blog post describing your ideas for a final project. Include an materials that will help describe it, like drawings, references, prior art, etc.
• Prepare a 3-5 minutes presentation for the class, describing your project idea.

NYU moves to remote...

March 11, 2020

Class 7

March 13

Presentation of Final Project Ideas

Lecture: Recommended Parts - Microcontrollers

Watch the video of this lecture at this link.

Lecture: Recommended Parts - Wireless

Watch the video of this lecture at this link.

Homework for next class

• Create a functional prototype for your final project.
  • Use breadboards, pre-made breakout boards, and other things that you did not make yourself.
  • It should do what you say it should do. This means you'll need software running (if it's not fully analog), and a real interaction/experience happening with your prototype.
  • Use the actual components/chips/parts that you plan to use for your final. For example, if you're project uses WiFi, then your prototype should use the same exact WiFi chip that you will use in your final PCB.
• Record a video of the prototype working, and make a blog post of the parts you used to put it together.

Spring Recess

March 20

Class 8

March 27

Presentation Blog Posts of Prototypes for Final Project

Read your classmates' blog posts on their prototypes, and send feedback if you have anything to give.

Read Guide: Eagle Design for Real-World Manufacture

Read the guide Eagle Design for the Real World to learn the differences between designing an Eagle board for DIY, and when you are designing for a professional PCB manufacturer to make your board.

Lecture: Recommended Parts - Inputs/Output

Not doing this because we don't have access to the parts on the floor.

Homework for next class

• Create a Bill of Materials (BOM) for your final project, and post to your blog. This should be a spreadsheet with part names, links to the supplier, prices, and quantities.

Class 9

April 3

Read Guide: Advanced Bantam PCB Milling Machine

Read the guide Bantam Milling - 2 to learn how to mill SVG images, and double sided boards.

Read Guide: Acid Etching

Read the guide Acid Etching to learn create PCBs with acid, which give you high resolution and the ability to make flex circuit boards.

Read Guide: Solder Stencil

Read the guide Solder Stencil to learn how to create a helpful tool to make SMD soldering much easier, using transparency paper and the Bantam mill.

Read Guide: Vias

Read the guide Vias to learn how to connect the top and bottom of your double-sided PCB.

Read Guide: Protecting Coating

Read the guide Protecting Coating to learn how to protect your DIY circuit board from the environment, and have is survive much longer outdoors.

Homework for next class

• Order the most important components in your final project, so that they arrive well before next class.
• Test these components separately, making a small PCB if you need to. Prove to yourself that you can get each one working individually.
• Combine your tested components together, to create a new prototype of your final project.
• Begin working on your Eagle design. Decide which parts would be ideal for your final board, and put them in the schematic. Do not spent much time on the board design side, because your schematic may change.
• Continue getting your prototypes to work, and make their experience/functionality what you want them to be.
• Sign up for my office hours for one-on-one discussion if you want help with your final or anything else.

Class 10

April 10

Painting PCBs with Liquid Solder Mask

Homework for next class

• Finish your final Eagle designs, based off of what you learned last week while testing components.
• Update your BOMs, and order any parts that you are still missing.
• Create the first version of your Eagle design. Post the Eagle files (.brd and .sch) to your blog, so that I can review them.
• Continue developing your functional prototype, and refining its interaction, design, and documentation.
• Sign up for my office hours for one-on-one discussion if you want help with your final or anything else.

Class 11

April 17

In-Class Work Session

Homework for next class

• Finish your final project.
• Post documentation of your final project to your blog, which must include:
  • Pictures and video of the final project working
  • Description of what it is and how it works
  • Download links to your Eagle design files (.sch and .brd)
  • Images of your Eagle design files, so it is easy to see them in your blog post
  • Process and fabrication documentation, which you think is interesting or useful for others to learn from

Class 12

April 24

Final Presentations