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For geeks, electronics enthusiasts, and hardware developers, Arduino is certainly not a stranger.
Arduino is a convenient, flexible, and easy-to-use open-source electronic prototyping platform, often used in various creative electronic projects such as 3D printers and drones. When faced with such a well-equipped platform, what kind of experience would it be to create an Arduino-compatible board yourself?
Author | Justin K
Translator | Wan Yue, Editor | Tu Min
The following is the translation:
In a recent project, I collaborated with friends to create the world’s smallest Arduino-compatible board, which we named Atto! The video below demonstrates Atto in action, with its RGB (rainbow) LED lighting up. Want to know how small Atto is? How about 0.4″ x 0.45″ (10.3mm x 11.5mm)?
Arduino is a versatile circuit board equipped with a microprocessor that can perform various functions through programming, backed by a huge community. Having a large community is fantastic because you can get support from around the world! So, you might be wondering, with such a tiny circuit device that you can barely hold or see, what can you do with it?
Actually, it has many applications! Imagine creating a new technology for wearable devices, like earrings or other jewelry that change color based on your body temperature or heartbeat. Or, in a micro-robot project, let Atto serve as the robot’s brain? The possibilities are endless!
Now that we know what kind of hardware product we want to create, how do we actually make it? First, we need to start with engineering requirements, or as we often say, brainstorm and put it down on paper. The requirements specify what functions our hardware needs to achieve, which in turn helps us understand what components are needed to build such hardware.
Once the requirements are in place, we can start on the circuit design, particularly the schematic and layout. This is a tedious task, but a good initial design can save us a lot of development costs in the long run. So this step is very important!
After completing the schematic and layout, we need to design the placement of components from a manufacturing and maintenance perspective (the physical chips shown in the image above). We do not want the placement of components to make product assembly difficult!
Next, we need to send the completed circuit design to China for processing. We have two options: First, send the bill of materials to the manufacturer and let them assemble the prototype. Second, as you might have guessed, we buy the parts and assemble it ourselves.
The first option is convenient but costly; the second option is cheaper but requires a lot of manual labor. As a poor student who often goes to school for free ramen and lunch, I chose the second option. The image above shows my soldering station and hot air station, which can blow out hot air over 300 degrees Celsius while assembling the circuit board. I named my hot air station “Manager,” and the meaning is self-evident.
Once the circuit is assembled, we can write the initial test firmware on our prototype!
After writing the firmware on Atto, we can proceed to testing (verification)! Our initial tests require checking the behavior of input and output pins after powering on. This test is usually done by connecting the circuit board directly to a computer or using a multimeter/oscilloscope. Personally, I used my most trusted Extech EX330 (though it’s a bit old and cheap, it’s super reliable). Disclaimer: This article is not sponsored by Extech (though I wish it were)…
After verification, there are undoubtedly two possible outcomes: either the circuit board works normally, or something gets burnt, and there’s smoke everywhere. Fortunately, the latest version of Atto passed the verification smoothly, and because the circuit board is so small, it’s easy to lose it! (I lost two Attos during the verification phase…).
After collecting the test data, we need to check whether the initial requirements have been met and continue testing to determine if any necessary improvements are needed. Dear, this is the lifecycle of developing a circuit board.
Original article: https://medium.com/swlh/designing-the-worlds-smallest-arduino-f0606934d6ac
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