Will

PROJECT CHEAP PCB is officially complete! Thank you all so much for your support, it's so much more than I could have ever possibly imagined. When I try to explain it to my siblings they think I am crazy because It's just so unbelievable so many people would support me like this. This project really opened my eyes to what is possible and has inspired me to keep going and designing boards to sell. I have a lot of faith in trusting where the universe takes me and I am really happy with how it is turning out so far. I learned so much with this project and it opened my eyes to so many other possibilities. All in all I just wanted to say thank you, seeing a photo like this where so many people have a board that I designed, and assembled and are excited to get it, really puts a smile on my a face and a warm feeling in my heart. I can't wait to keep designing boards and doing the latest thing that catches my interests but I just wanted to say thank you all so much for making that possible for and having so much fun with me :)

@realchasecurtis Same guy, different respirator

do they know?

@redflagoclock Would that help me place 0402 components?

@realwillreil Hey bud I'm gonna need you to go do a few years up in Yellowknife and come back with some hair on your chest

I need a pick and place machine ASAP so I don’t have to place 0402 components by hand 😭

@IDV_FPV @RichDevX I’ve got some coming 😉

@RichDevX @realwillreil Cool concept but a good vacuum tube and a bit of practice would be a lot faster then manually operating a pnp.

@IDV_FPV Wow!

Does your setup have a view like this?

@eevblog I need it functional in that exact size

Jim Challenger from Hawker Richardson shows off their miniature 3D printed SMD production line. As used by Rode and others.

@matchakitty_ @ArunShivaram_P Via in pad had to stay just due to size but yeah 4 layer

@realwillreil @ArunShivaram_P So it's a 4 layer now? Did you get rid of the via-in-pad?

I somehow added 4 more parts to this board. The addressable LEDs are now switched with a mosfet to prevent battery drain even when they're off. Thank you @ArunShivaram_P for the very helpful feedback that resulted in a better board for everyone!

@TGatliff Sounds pretty interesting idk 🤷‍♂️

@realwillreil It's likely not what you think it is. PNP is all about details and tracking metrics. It's very IE process improvement mindset driven. Board yield rate is the most important metric and is tracked/refined on each run. EEs generally get bored doing IE type process activities.

I designed a board too small to assemble by hand in production but I have a solution. Im going to order 30 of this dev board and enough components for 100 boards in order to get the cost savings. I’ll then try to assemble the boards but if it’s too difficult I will redesign it using those parts. In addition I am going to make breakout boards using those same sensors and connectors so that they aren’t dead inventory and can be used with the boards later. This way I can order the parts, boards, and cope with the uncertainty without being out $1000+ Eventually I will make enough to buy a pick and place and will be able to assemble that original design! Basically in going to make it work no matter what.

@realchasecurtis @i2cjak That’s what I’m thinking, especially since I want the automated pnp anyways. Might not be worth the effort as a middle step

@realwillreil @i2cjak while i dont think you’ll be unsuccessful, im curious how much of a beach this project would be

Will Reil. If you can hear me. Will Reil

@patel_chint It’s the only way I know how

@realwillreil retardmax all the way

@Partha_199990 I’m going to do the opposite of all this and struggle through it 😂 I’m mostly too lazy to redesign the board and want to test it. If it fails I’ll go bigger but I need to try!

@realwillreil I would suggest you not to order such huge qty to save money rather you design the board with 1206 package. May be the size will increase a bit but it's definitely hand solderable. I do it regularly. Just use a magnifying glass only for ICs.

@aidan55511 @ArunShivaram_P Too much for a gpio at max brightness but that’s a good idea. I used the gpio on a mosfet to switch it

@realwillreil @ArunShivaram_P How much current does your LED draw? You might be able to power it directly with a GPIO pin lol.

@10xAidan Soon! I plan to sell as many of these as I can. I first need to assemble and test it then figure out production. I will be selling them through reilindustrial.com as well as some other boards

@realwillreil where can i buy

This dev board is truly a battery project powerhouse. You can use an unprotected vape battery, plug it in to the board, and it will work perfectly! It has battery protection and adjustable speeds, as well as live health/charge monitoring. Not to mention a full sensor suite!

@baseduart @vaizaragorn I don’t know how to do any of that but I can try and learn 🫡

@realwillreil @vaizaragorn Please print this and benchmark its performance on battery, signal integrity, etc.. If it all works flawlessly it's going to be insane.

DRC check fears this guy

@raulizahi @MakeAugusta I plan to build the assembly capacity so this is a struggle I need to go through 😆 I’ll definitely keep that in my back pocket though

@realwillreil Good strategy. Remember that you can also give it @MakeAugusta for assembly.

@riley_mill43634 You might be on to something here. Will feed some ants solder paste and see how they react

@realwillreil Is it too late to start training a colony of ants to place the components? Small bit of sugar mixed in with the solder paste would be a sweet reward.

@JustinLDallas Only way out is through (even if it’s not true) 🫡

@realwillreil I respect the grit.

@andy_barganski Good idea, a plate would help with some manual labour with the air gun. The biggest struggle will be placing those small parts

@realwillreil What about cheap reflow Puhui T-962 from Aliexpress ?

@TGatliff I want to learn the process and build capabilities. I’m the 1% who wants to learn the PNP 😆

@realwillreil Don’t bother is my suggestion. PNP is a completely skill set to learn that’s not worth it for 99% of people. My suggestion is to just have jlcpcb run them.

@MakerInParadise Yeah a stencil for this one is a must. It’ll be tedious but I’ll pull it off. Mass producing them is where I really need the pnp

@realwillreil Get a stencil for it, solder paste, a microscope and tweezers. Tiny components are bad is you reflow

@maxing_out_tech Yes ☠️ I started with only 0604 components but quickly moved to some 0402, now I will pay the price

@realwillreil Wait you’re going to assemble this by hand?