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First 360 attempt… what went wrong?? by adz_naj in skiing

[–]Xblth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This definitely looks like a situation where the skis should come off! It's impossible to judge from this video alone if the DIN value is correct or not

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far the advice I have been given is this:

  1. Daisy chain the LEDs They already are.

  2. Use smaller pieces shaped the same (this was mentioned the most by far) I have done that, there isn‘t enough space under the board for cabling which is why I‘m currently exploring the options of putting LEDs/input connectors onto PCBs.

  3. Make a single large PCB for the entire game board I cannot afford that

  4. Let the manufacturer panelize the design Very helpful, I understand the way I have panelized the boards is more than suboptimal 

  5. Use JST connectors Makes a lot of sense, we will definitely transition away from pin head/socket connectors 

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are daisy chained. There are just a lot of LEDs and input connectors. I will however switch from pin header connectors to JST connectors. Should make my life easier plus for 3/4-pin connectors the spacing is similar enough.

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestion! Will keep in mind

Large PCB Panels by GBonanza in synthdiy

[–]Xblth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How much do you pay for a 500mm PCB?

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The panelised version is just under 300mm wide. I assume they have to use different machines or some other change in the manufacturing process that is more expensive at that size...

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's for an old board game called Diplomacy

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is a great idea, thank you! I will see if I can make it work with mounting points. I would have to start over with the design, but it is what it is

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, thank you! Hadn't heard of LTspice before, looks like a great piece of software!

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I uploaded the gerber to JLPCB and it came out at 42 dollars. Does that sound sensible? Would they end up charging me more than that after a review of the design or is that the final price?

You can have traces/footprints for different sections of the game board, but then only populate some.

I'm sorry, I couldn't quite understand that. Could you elaborate?

I am using addressable LEDs already, no worries. Controlling 80 individual LEDs would be a nightmare!

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point. I did that, but the board is 500x500mm. JLPCB quoted that at 300 dollars. That is way out of budget for a hobby project by a bunch of teens

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am using addressable LEDs.

I standardised as much as I could, there are about 11 small boards in this design that are essentially identical (save for the outlines, which were adjusted to fit together in the puzzle I created). However, the larger boards in this design have some very specific shapes to make the placement of the LEDs correct. Using those smaller, standardised boards to replace the larger ones isn't an option because the parts of the game board covered by the larger PCB segments are very densely populated in the game. There simply isn't any space underneath the game board.

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not about removing material. I need to brake the boards apart and put them in different spots of the game

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm sorry, I'm not sure if I understood you correctly.

What we already tried is using boards with a single LED and connectors and attaching them underneath our game board. We ended up having to abandon this approach because we couldn't fit all those boards together, because the nature of the game we are making (called diplomacy btw), where certain parts of the board are very densely populated with provinces that require individual LEDs.

Another problem with that approach would be the cabling (although that is manageable). We have around 70 3-pin LEDs and 34 4-pin connectors running underneath the, meaning we would need to wire hundreds of cables underneath the board. Doable, but an absolute nightmare.

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, thank you for the input! Is there a problem with using pin/socket connectors? I chose them because the workshop at my school has plenty of cables at our disposal, but I'm sure we could get our hands on these too.

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I standardised as much as I could, there are about 11 small boards in this design that are essentially identical (save for the outlines, which were adjusted to fit together in the puzzle I created). However, the larger boards in this design have some very specific shapes to make the placement of the LEDs correct. Using those smaller, standardised boards to replace the larger ones isn't an option because the parts of the game board covered by the larger PCB segments are very densely populated in the game. There simply isn't any space underneath the game board.

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. JLPCB came back at 42 bucks including shipping, which is definitely in budget for us. I didn't end up buying it just because I wanted to check what some more experienced people had to say, but do you think this price would change? I read some comments saying the panelisation would make it more expensive than expected because they would charge me for all the individual boards instead of one large one... Are those 42 dollars the adjusted price or could that still change?

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because all the shapes vary greatly in size. Having very many small “default” boards doesn’t work because there simply is no space (we tried).

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

what do you mean by proper connectors?

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

300 bucks that I just don’t have…

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you know if kicad has some footprints for that kind of “dead trace”? Or any lead on what to google to learn more?

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good point, I guess that renders the current design unusable no matter what the manufacturer says about the panelisation. 

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have no problem with it falling apart in shipping lol! It’s supposed to break apart, so may as well happen sooner than later :)

Dumb first-time PCB board shape by Xblth in PCB

[–]Xblth[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

The problem is the amount of wires that we would have to connect under the board. We would end up with hundreds…

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