10AxisFeatherWing

After almost 2 months of not updating this Hackaday.io page, I am finally happy to announce that the 10AxisFeatherWing is complete!

I was busy trying to perfect the boards, and my gosh did it take two months!

During those 2 months, I have learned the following:

1. Use stencils rather than hand soldering. Especially if you have tiny parts and if some of your components have no leads. I threw away $100 worth of failed boards trying to go cheap.
2. Check your board design before ordering. I uploaded a board design I did not check, and I got a board that does not have a trace to ground on one of the pads. I did not let that $20 go into the drain, though. I used it to make a partial board that tested the unaffected components. Here's a photo of it:
   

   It worked!
   

3. Have a heat gun. You cannot solder parts under components using a soldering iron, unless the pads themselves are visible.

My university hackerspace provided the right tools to prepare, solder, and test my boards.

Also, I will be scrapping the 10AxisFeatherWingLE variant. I had made 3 prototypes, used a stencil, and tested them. All three of them released the magic smoke.

I am thinking of making more hardware, since I wanted a modular Thrust Vector Control system for rockets. Like what Joe Barnard does in BPS.space!

Today is a good day for 10AxisFeatherWing (and LE)!

After checking the PCBs for the 10AxisFeatherWing and 10AxisFeatherWingLE, I ordered the parts from DigiKey, and the PCBs from OSH Park. I am so excited to try these things myself!

Also, I just found out that my school just had reflow ovens, so I look forward to making (or baking) these PCBs!

Here are a few pictures of the PCB renders from OSH Park:

Ain't those purple PCBs cute?

I recreated the whole project using KiCad, because I feel like it's easier to use than EAGLE.

Because of it, I was able to create 3D renders of 10AxisFeatherWing!

Also, I recreated the 10AxisFeatherWingLE with much more cheaper parts. Instead of BME280, I used the BMP280, which does not have the humidity sensor.

Here are some screenshots of the new, improved 10AxisFeatherWingLE:

One last thing: Happy New Year!

After looking around for examples of FeatherWings in Adafruit store, I stumbled upon this Adalogger FeatherWing. It has the two things that I know I needed to implement: A reset switch and an INT breakout.

I also tried to condense all the components together, since I was worried that the decoupling caps won't filter the signals effectively. After some few hours of rearranging the components and autorouting, I was able to implement these new features.

Right now, my project is done on paper. I just need to find a good PCB printing service to print prototype PCBs for me, and collect money from my allowance so I will be able to buy the required components. I might use these prototype PCBs in my rockets, and use the data in my super secret science project I'm working on.

I have made a 10AxisFeatherWingLE that uses LSM9DS1 instead of BNO055. The LE (Limited Edition) does not have sensor fusion, but it does not require a 32.768kHz crystal, and is cheaper than the original.

Visit the project page on Github