Compacting Project Size

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Mud
 
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Compacting Project Size

Post by Mud »

I'm working on a project that will be used underwater. In order to minimize the size of the housing, I'd like to get all the components into the smallest possible space.

It looks like I'll be using an Arduino micro as the controller. This is a digital compass project with a small OLED display and possibly SD logging, Bluetooth LE, Lipo battery, and inductive charging.

Does anyone have a link to some good tips on stacking and connecting components in 3D? Layout, properly separating things to prevent shorts, etc... ?

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Compacting Project Size

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

That's one of those areas that's more art than science.

If you do happen to find software that claims to be able to do the job, run the other way as fast as you can. Autorouters for PCB layout only have to deal with 2d connections, and even the best of those is no match for a human with a bad hangover.

The best procedure is to put everything together and take it apart about a hundred times. You can use pieces of cardboard instead of the actual circuits, but you need all the wiring connections between the pieces to exist in some form or other.. string, actual wire, whatever.

The first 10-20 times will give you a feel for what the major connections are, and what arrangements present the greatest nuisance. Around that point you'll be getting ideas about what might work, so try each idea a few times and ways and see what happens.

Keep good records as you go.. you'll work out a shorthand for sketching each arrangement as you go, but do keep track of the things you've tried, how big the overall assembly was, and any notes about "this worked well" or "this was a screaming nightmare" that you have while working.

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