2017-05-28 (Su) Pi0 Laser Tag PiTagErrUs

The first assembled circuit board had trouble. There was a short between the voltage traces and the ground traces. A continuity meter confirmed this and simply plugging an Arduino onto the board drew too much power from the on-board voltage regulator to keep the power LED lit.

The second board had a different problem. There was an open (broken) trace between the voltage pin of the Arduino and the voltage pin for the infrared sensor. Since the sensor is the primary way of transmitting data to the Arduino it's important. The break was so minor that it proved very difficult to track down and photographing it was even more difficult.

 There is a little white speck in the middle, that's the break

Different lenses and combinations of lenses were used to try to make a photograph of the break. This became an exercise in optics as well as circuit repair. In my office, I have a bin of optic parts like small mirrors, lenses and similar. Parts from the bin aren't used often because optics aren't my strong suit but any fool can hold lenses up until something works.

 A double-set of lenses

The preoccupation with photographing a tiny wire break took longer than repairing the wire. It was a lesson in light bending and possibly an inspiration to make a telescope. I mean, I have a bin of perfectly good lenses and a 3D printer. Also, ABS tubing comes in black.

This picture was taken with a loupe aimed at a larger lens, 3 glass lenses in all

The first attempt was to solder a short bit of wire directly over the break but the soldering iron tip was too large and clumsy. The repair was accomplished by soldering a small wire, the green one, to two good points and circumventing the break entirely.

Repaired trace

Downloads:

The rest of the posts for this project have been arranged by date

First time here?

Completed projects from year 1 
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3


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2017-05-24 (W)

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