Day 4: Rapid Prototyping Board v2
This is the second version of something I made a while back, but I changed enough to consider it for day 4. I used a scrap piece of wood because it was handy, and easy to customize. This works better mounted on a wall as the footprint it pretty large.
This will be used as the basis for many of my more technical projects. As I do more electronic projects I hope to have a standard toolset chosen that will allow me to go from concept to device quickly, without having to start from scratch every time.
A. Recycled Computer Power Supply
You can use almost any old desktop computer power supply as a bench power supply. On the top side of this one (not shown), it lists which colored wire carries which current - this power supply provides +3.3v 28A, +5v 30A, -5v .5A, +12v 15A, -12v 1A, and +5v 2A that is on regardless of the power supply.
You just need to wire in a switch (mine is red, just to the right of the letter ‘C’ in the pic) to turn the power supply on and off.
I then tapped into the main power rails and made…
B & C. Binding Posts and USB Hub (Power Distribution)
I used bolts mounted from underneath the board as DIY binding posts (B), and I also have standard binding posts on the +12v line, which accept banana-style plugs as well as through-hole wires from the bottom.
Additionally there’s a standard DC male connector on the 12v line. This also powers a USB hub (C) off the +5v rail, which can then power various USB devices or micro controllers.
D. Relay Bank, Fuse Block
This has 8 independent 120v/10A relays. The first relay is hard wired to the fuse block and a standard 3-wire electrical outlet. The relays can be wired as normally-open or normally-closed.
The Raspberry Pi model B is a tiny, fully functional computer that runs linux (or other) operating systems. Many people use a Raspberry Pi for GUIs and logging the data from sensors built on another platform (like Arduino). It has an Ethernet port, HDMI, 512MB of ram, and is powered by a 5V USB connection. I have a wifi adapted hooked up so I don’t need a network jack.
This is an Arduino Uno, which is a small, inexpensive micro controller that people use to make all kinds of incredible projects.
G. Propellor Quickstart board
The Propellor PX32A is another micro controller, but has eight separate processors and does well in real-time communication devices. This board has 8 touch pads wired in with LEDs, to also enable faster prototyping.
A breadboard is used to quickly wire small electronics projects. The colored wires can be moved quickly, and many add-on components plug right into the board (in this pic, a Nokia 5100 84x48 display is plugged in. This is a display that was in tons of mobile phones before smartphones, and can be bought for around $2).