Author: Anna Kaziunas France

Categories
04 Electronics Design and Production Fab Academy AS220 - Providence, RI

FabISP Part II: Stuffing and Programming the Board

 

The Fab Academy Assignment
make and program a board

The Project: Fab ISP

The FabISP was designed by David Mellis. It is an in-system programmer for AVR microcontrollers. Mellis designed it so that it could be produced in a Fab. It’s based on theUSBtiny andV-USB firmwares, allowing the ATtiny44 to communicate over the USB connection. It can be programmed with avrdude. See Mellis’s site for more details.

Skills Learned

This was my first board that I put together and programmed at Fab Academy

I learned how to:

  • mill a board
  • stuff a board
  • program a board
  • troubleshoot a board

I had a alot of trouble initially with this board and I made at least 6 of these at various stages of completion before I got the final one working.
Some of the issues were due to my inexperience and need of practice with soldering and troubleshooting, but I discovered later that many of the problems were also due to the programmer I was using (see below).

Tools Used

  • ATMEL Mini AVR ATMEGA STK500 USB Programmer ISP (initially)
    • I had a lot of trouble with this programmer. I could not get it to green light on most of my boards – and when I did get a green light, it was unreliable. It would often go green – then yellow – then red. I would unplug it and then plug it back in and get flashing yellow or green.
    • I also wanted my own programmer to work with at home (the Ateml Mini belonged to the lab), so I purchased the very inexpensive USBtinyISP kit. This turned out to be a great solution. I occasionally have an issue with it heating up the boards a bit, but it doesn’t give me flaky results like the Atmel mini. Without the USBtinyISP, I would not have been able to complete any of the electronics / board related assignments with fabbed boards.
  • USBtinyISP AVR Programmer Kit
    • I found this programmer much easier to use than the Atmel Mini.
    • available from Adafruit Industries
Categories
06 Embedded Programming Fab Academy AS220 - Providence, RI Fab Academy Providence -Year I - Student Projects Tools

Making Serial, Programming and Connector Cables

The Fab Academy Assignment:  make serial and programming cables

cables

Most of the effort in putting the cables together should be directed at figuring out how the pins match up to the wires before attempting to put the cable together.

Headers:

  • Use 6-pin headers for the programming cables
  • 4 pin headers for everything else (you can use a 6 pin header if you map it correctly, the unused pins will hang off the side of the pins, but that is fine.
  • Serial cable header / connector.

The rest of the cable assembly is fairly simple.  Using the diagram that you created to match up the pins – thread the wires through the connector, (ensuring they are in the correct pin positions). Then crimp the wires with the connector by pressing down until the header is securely attached.

If you need to split ribbon cable wires into segments in order to map the pins correctly, secure the strands with electrical tape to make it more difficult to pull them out of the header.

cablecables

Categories
15 Intellectual Property Models Fab Academy AS220 - Providence, RI Fab Academy Final Project Fab Academy Providence -Year I - Student Projects

Final Project [PuppetMaster] Licencing and Distribution

creative commons logo

Fab Academy Module 15:

Invention, Intellectual Property and Business Models

The Fab Academy Assignment

Develop a plan for distributing your final project.

Distribution Plan

I plan to distribute my PuppetMaster (see Final Project pages in the main navigation for details on this project.) final project through my website as downloadable schematic and board files.  Releases will be made available as individual stages are completed.  If the project becomes popular, I may consider distributing it as a kit.

It is unlikely that I will patent this device, as patents are expensive and afford little protection unless you are the owner of a large company with deep pockets who is prepared to litigate.

I instead intend to use the Creative Commons for both licensing and enableling others to find these plans. (a non-commercial, modifications allowed, share alike license seems to make the most sense). This will enable me to keep the copyright to my work while allowing others to us, modify and improve it.

I will create and register the actual license when my final project is closer to completion.

Skills Learned

  • Creative Commons licensing structure.
  • A broad overview of patents and MIT distribution models
Categories
12 Embedded Networking Fab Academy AS220 - Providence, RI Fab Academy Providence -Year I - Student Projects

Internet 0 / Zero – Part 1: Milling, Stuffing and Setting Up the Boards

I0
The Fab Academy Assignment: build a network with at least two nodes
The Project: Internet 0

Progress so far:

  • milled out boards:
  • 2 leaf nodes
  • 1 serial board
  • 1 hub board
  • made cables
  • stuffed boards

Tools Used

  • Modela milling machine
  • Python Cad

Individual Boards / Boards in Stages of Completion

I0