DAVID ROSENWASSER | HOW TO MAKE (ALMOST) ANYTHING  

MASTER IN DESIGN STUDIES, TECHNOLOGY CANDIDATE AT HARVARD GSD

The group assignment for this week asked to characterize the design rules of the PCB production process. Our group approached this process by means of developing a series of sequential tests on our copper composite substrates, investigating depth of cut, accuracy, line quality, tear-out, and translations between the PNG images and tool path.

MILLING:




The electronics assignment this week involved the CNC milling and production of FabTinyISP’s. Using a Roland SRM-20 desktop mill and MOD software from HTMAA, a copper composite board was fixed to the mill table and machined with two end-mills and operations. The initial cutting, intended to remove the topmost copper layer, was machined with a finer carbide end-mill, whereas the cutting pass was accomplished with a more robust carbide end-mill. My board required one additional pass to remove the copper layer, as the initial cut depth of .004mm was not sufficient. I changed that depth to .0045mm, which sufficiently removed the remaining copper.

SOLDERING AND PROGRAMMING:



After milling, I referenced Brian’s instructions and proceeded to solder the assemble the printed circuit board. The USB connector was improved by adding solder. Additionally, a sublayer of vinyl was added beneath in order to improve the contact and friction when the USB was in use.

FINAL PRODUCT: