View Single Post
  #9   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 10-03-2006, 01:55
sciguy125 sciguy125 is offline
Electrical Engineer
AKA: Phil Baltar
FRC #1351
Team Role: College Student
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 519
sciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond repute
Send a message via AIM to sciguy125 Send a message via MSN to sciguy125 Send a message via Yahoo to sciguy125
Re: Team 116 OI Adapter board

We made something similar. It's effectively an adapter that allows you to patch pots and switches into the OI. One connector goes to the OI, another goes to a joystick. A group of pins (with our traditional sig, +5, gnd arrangment) let's you connect the pots and switches. A set of jumpers let's you set whether each individual line goes to the joystick or its respective pot/switch pin. Sorry, but I don't have any pictures.

You guys had a good idea with using ribbon cables though. Our boards just have right angle DB15 connectors, so we needed the 15 pin cables to go with them. That ended up being bulkier than expected.

We also made PCBs, homebrew style - cheap, decent quality, but not good for high volume. After you've got a design on the computer, you can print it onto a glossy magazine page with a laser printer. Then you iron it onto a copper clad board. The toner melts and sticks to the board. After it cools, you can dissolve the paper in water without hurting the toner. The toner is some kind of waterproof polymer, so it will work as an etch resist when the board is placed in your copper eating chemical of choice. Once the unwanted copper is gone, drill the holes and clean the board. Now, you're ready to solder.
__________________

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GE/S/P a-- e y-- r-- s:++ d+ h! X+++
t++ C+ P+ L++ E W++ w M-- V? PS+ PE+
5- R-- tv+ b+ DI+++ D- G
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------