u/Aran_PCBWAY

Check out this DIY ESP32 Fuel Price Tracker by Ebbel Studio (YouTube). This compact desktop monitor uses the TankPuls API to display real-time fuel prices, nearby stations, fuel types, distance, and estimated driving costs on a touchscreen. It can also alert you when the price reaches your target.

We helped manufacture the PCBs for this project. If you're interested in building your own, check out PCBWay!

Injection Molding and Vacuum Casting offer different advantages for different stages of product development. Injection Molding uses steel molds and is well suited for end-use parts, high-volume production, tight tolerances, and complex tooling, while Vacuum Casting uses silicone molds with lower mold start-up costs, making it a practical option for early prototypes, smaller batches, and projects that need shorter mold building times.

Which would you choose for your project, injection molding or Vacuum Casting? Share your experience below👇.

Check out this CH32V006K8U6 development board by Curious Scientist on YouTube! The video shows the board being assembled using a custom stencil rig.

We provided the PCBs for this project. If you're interested in building your own board, you can check out the project and place an order on PCBWay!

So I'm getting the crystal (Not actually a crystal, just using watch terminology) and caseback made by PCBway in the form of resin 3D printing.

This made the crystal slightly smaller than it should be. About a mm smaller for each, but not to be unexpected.

I think It will fit in, as the screws used for mounting these parts to the case are M3, so pretty big.

I can manually drill out 3mm holes for the screw holes and fill in excess gap with resin, so this shouldn't be to much of a problem.

However, what do you guys think about the design? I tried to make the case very open, so there are very large clear parts.

Check out this unique animated music box created by Alvaro's Workshop on YouTube! Combining a zoetrope and a light bulb filament, this project turns a jewelry box into a fascinating mechanical creation.

PCBWay helped manufacture the PCBs for this project. Watch the full video on Alvaro's Workshop's YouTube channel, or visit the PCBWay Community to purchase the project directly with just one click if you'd like to build one yourself!

This project by cruddCNC (YouTube) shows how to build your own Dad Drift Kart. If you're planning to build your own Dad Drift Kart, check out https://cruddcnc.com/?src=pcbway-social.

PCBWay helped bring this project to life with our CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication services. If you're interested in building something similar and need our services, visit PCBWay to learn more about our services!

I have spent the last few months developing this movement made almost entirely from 3D printed parts. The design still needs a bit of tweaking, but I would imagine it would be finished in less than 2 months.

This movement is a skeleton, and the case will include clear windows to look inside, the windows will also be resin printed out of an experimental compound. I actually got my first sponsor on this project, PCBway so they are producing the clear parts.

So far, this is what I have documented, which is up to date to where I am now. The mainspring is actually a hom-age (Wouldn't let me include this word for some reason) to a childhood toy that sparked some interest into mechanics, a clockwork pendulum kit, as the mainspring is repurposed as the mainspring for this project.

The dial is luminous, and the whole thing can run for about 2 hours which I know isn't a lot, but still remarkable to me for being made of plastic.

Unfortunately, progress will slow down for a little while starting now, as this is my first year of high school and it's really been starting to take a toll on me because building "pocket watch"(It just barely fits in my pocket, even though it is apple sized so I would like to call it that) alongside an orrery is just too much for me.

f anyone else has experience managing many projects at once, I’d love to hear how you handle it. I know it’s probably not the smartest idea to have this many things going on at once, but I started all of these projects before summer, and they’ve just ended up taking a lot longer than I expected.

Progress and future building video about this will be posted here, but the videos will probably take awhile to edit and record so don't expect much for the time being

hisashi.nakagawa on Instagram recently built a custom circuit board for my little walking robot, designed to fit the project and handle its electronics in a compact way.

We helped manufacture the PCB, and if you're working on your own project, feel free to check out PCBWay!

We've shared the debugging process and the testing ahead as we prepare DockFrame for Crowd Supply

https://hwlab.io/blog/debugging-dockframe-dual-usb-card

Plasma speakers create sound by using a high-voltage arc to rapidly heat and expand the surrounding air. This 50W plasma speaker by scrap_engineering on Instagram uses a TL494 PWM controller, 30 kHz switching frequency, and an active low-pass filter to reduce aliasing.

We sponsored the PCBs for this project, helping bring the custom hardware from design to a working plasma speaker. If you're working on your own electronics project and need custom PCBs, feel free to try PCBWay!

A quick technical sharing on 6 3D printing materials and where they can be useful.

Different materials offer different advantages, from flexibility and impact resistance to high-temperature and outdoor performance. This overview gives a quick overview of TPU, PEEK, PC, PPS, ASA, and Metal, along with some typical applications for each. You can also check PCBWay's 3D printing materials and their properties: PCBWay 3D Printing Materials.

If you're choosing a material for your next 3D printing project, hopefully this gives you a useful starting point.

A quick and useful soldering tip from Mark Fixes Stuff on YouTube. In this video, he shows a simple way to use pin headers to keep the pads in place before soldering a Raspberry Pi Pico, making the process much easier and more stable.

If you're working on a Pico or similar PCB project, this is a handy little trick to keep in mind.

Hope you enjoy the video, and have a great weekend! 🔧

Daniel Knezevic built this Single-Digit Nixie Clock with help from PCBWay's PCB manufacturing service.

The project was originally shared on PCBWay's Shared Projects, where the project files are available and you can simply order the PCBs with just one click. Check the project here, https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Single\_Digit\_Nixie\_Clock\_0f84cf6c.html.

Hi there!

I'm a senior Electrical Engineering major working on my capstone project which involves creating a small phased array antenna as a rocket payload. The plan is to have a controller board connected to the antenna array that will send the RF and phase shifter control signals. As of now, the first iteration of the control board is almost ready for ordering, but I wanted to get some more opinions before I send it off, as my RF design skills are somewhat limited (this is the first board I've done with it).

Here's a brief overview of the board

• RP2040 Microcontroller as main control
• 3.3v linear regulator will accept 9-12 volts
• I2C and UART breakout for possible additions later
• 3.3v to -3.3v charge pump for negative rail required by phase shifters on antenna board
• connectors will distribute the controlling signals to the antenna board (SPI and Power)
• 4-layer stackup, (PCBWay standard, Impedance Controlled, See stackup image)
• RF trace width: .325mm (Coplanar waveguide with ground plane, 50ohm target at 2.4GHz, .2mm clearance to GND Pour)

Some Comments

I'm aware that there are modules for the SX1280 chip that would make my life easier. I deliberately chose to attempt a bare chip design as I will be needing to do RF design more later in the project, and figured this would be a lower-stakes initial attempt. The results of the design will guide the rest of the project. I stuck as close as possible to the datasheet's recommended designs with only slight modifications for connection and impedance matching with my stackup.

Concerns

• I have a total of 28 DRC errors, all of which are a result of the USB footprint, which I got from DigiKey, and it has cleared PCBWay's audit in the past. I am somewhat concerned about the USB routing though, due to the awkward routing needed to connect to the RP2040.
• Obviously I have concerns about the SX1280 circuitry, as that is one of the main functions of the board, and likely the most difficult to get right.
• The charge pump generating -3.3v is closely following the reference design, but I do not have much experience with charge pumps and therefore don't know how much I can trust it in this case.

Questions

• Are there any glaring issues that I've missed?
• Are there any best practices that I'm not using that I should begin doing?

Testing

We have a LibreVNA and a spatial characterization apparatus on hand, so I'll be able to verify impedance matching and radiation characteristics empirically once boards are in hand, but I'd rather catch design issues now than after manufacturing.

Thank you so much for any feedback you have!

Space Cadet Pinball is one of CNCDan's favorite pinball games, so he decided to bring it back as a real mechanical pinball machine. The project combines custom mechanical parts, electronics, and fabrication to recreate the classic Space Cadet experience as a physical pinball machine. For more details, you can check out his YouTube video.

PCBWay provided the PCBs for the project to help bring the electronics side of the build to life. If you're working on your own project, feel free to check out PCBWay!

just a little upgrade lol

I had my 3D parts printed with PCBWay and added a new EliteDesk G5, and ThinkStation P330 which now run two proxmox nodes. The G5 will run a file server and has an i7-9700T which I plan on running a few extra VMs with, and the P330 will run a second VM soon but is running an opnsense firewall atm which has been great!

Now the last thing to get is two high capacity SATA disks and figure out how to cool the disks, I’m considering having a fan on the top of the rack to pull air down the rack although my only concern is the space I have at the very top behind the switch and Ethernet cabling from the patch panel.

(and as a bonus, the embarrassingcable management reveal 🤢🤢)

Created by sm2builds on Instagram, this project brings robotic flowers to life with the SM2 One custom PCB. The board plays an important role in connecting and controlling the electronics behind the robotic movement, making the whole build possible in a compact and organized design.

We're happy to have supported the project by manufacturing the PCB. Want to build your own robotic flowers? Start building your own in PCBWay!

Not all PCBs are designed for the same purpose. From everyday electronics to high-frequency RF systems and compact high-density devices, different applications call for different PCB materials and structures.

Here are five common types you'll come across:

• FR-4 — The most common choice for general-purpose electronics, from consumer devices to everyday prototypes.

• Rogers — A popular option for high-frequency and RF applications, where electrical performance and signal stability are especially important.

• Aluminum PCB — A good choice when heat needs to be moved away from the board quickly, which is why it's often used in LED lighting and thermal applications.

• Copper PCB — With excellent thermal conductivity, copper PCBs are useful for high-power applications where heat dissipation is a major concern.

• HDI PCB — Designed for compact and complex electronics, HDI technology allows more connections to be packed into a smaller board.

Different applications call for different PCB technologies. Which one have you worked with?