TreadBot

[dragons_fire]

Update:

i havent done too much work on it in the last couple days. the ECM in my truck went bad, so im trying to figure out if its fixable, or if i need to replace it... its a 91 Suzuki Sidekick, adn all the electronics and half the engine parts are made by Mitsubishi.

i have the Rogue Robotics UMMC SD card reader/writer working great now. it just takes serial data and stores it to a card. i can store a "label" and a VAR Byte to it for each one of my variables for this robot.. with a 1gig card, i can fit almost 100,000,000 logs on it and then stick the card into my computer and read it all in notepad. i dont have an actual use for this yet (for this robot, i can think of many uses for other things), but i think its going to be neat to look at everything on my computer..

my new PIC and other parts came today, so i will make the board over the next couple days, and hopefully it will work good this time...

[Darrel Taylor]

If you feel like showing the new board again before you etch it...

I'm up for another looksy.
<br>

[skimask]

If you feel like showing the new board again before you etch it...I'm up for another looksy.
<br>

Definetly let us all have a 2nd/3rd/4th look for you (not that you aren't competent or anything, but it couldn't hurt at all). This is too neat of a project to waste any more pieces/parts on. I wanna see something work!

[dragons_fire]

well here it is... hopefully it works this time.. i have changed a lot around since the last time i posted it...





thanks fof the help guys, and i will keep everyone updated on how it goes...

[skimask]

well here it is... hopefully it works this time.. i have changed a lot around since the last time i posted it...thanks fof the help guys, and i will keep everyone updated on how it goes...

Nice looking board...a couple notes...
--Add in vias on any signal/power line you can fit them on, whether you drill them out or not. That way you can drill the via later and plug in extra wiring or make mod's down the road, goes back to cutting traces and making fixes and stuff like that.
--I might get rid of that big ol' ground plane square on the bottom, unless you plan on coating the board with something (a rattle can of acrylic is a good thing I've found out recently and it scrapes off easily with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab after it's dried). That plane to me looks like a perfect spot to short something out!
--Very few 90 degree corners, very few corners greater than 45 degrees, decent ground run, I might add a few extra power runs on the bottom (and/or thicken up the power traces you've already got) to help the power get around a bit better. The setup you've got is almost a daisy-chain. Optimally, you'd almost want all the power traces to come back to a central point (same for ground, but you're good there).

[mister_e]

a very little suggestion. Usually the power rails should be 2-3 X bigger than the signal one.

unless, it looks good, nice job. Don't give up

[dragons_fire]

--Add in vias on any signal/power line you can fit them on, whether you drill them out or not. That way you can drill the via later and plug in extra wiring or make mod's down the road, goes back to cutting traces and making fixes and stuff like that.

-- The setup you've got is almost a daisy-chain. Optimally, you'd almost want all the power traces to come back to a central point (same for ground, but you're good there).

think you told me all that before, and i just forgot..

i actually have been using "tremclad" clear on the boards after their etched. then i can drill through it, and it works like a solder mask. it seems to take a little more heat, but im mostly soldering headers and sockets, so it shouldnt make too much of a difference..

the ground plane on the top of the board, is right under the SD card reader. so i put it there to kinda block it from anything..

[skimask]

i actually have been using "tremclad" clear on the boards after their etched. then i can drill through it, and it works like a solder mask. it seems to take a little more heat, but im mostly soldering headers and sockets, so it shouldnt make too much of a difference..

the ground plane on the top of the board, is right under the SD card reader. so i put it there to kinda block it from anything..

Good call on both points...