While waiting for the arrival of the PDK2019 Ghost Charger Board and some LiPo batteries, I re-started the Proton Pack project less I forget what I did the last time. With the microcontroller and most of the components plus LEDs soldered, it is time for me to move on to the software stage.
Listen… you smell something?
The first thing I needed to do was to test the status of the 4-position switch. I have programmed the microcontroller to light up each LED depending on the position of the switch. Well, to cut the long story short, nothing worked except for the LEDs which are blinking in an odd pattern. Plus, the programmer could not read from the chip. As the components are already soldered, I took a spare PCB and started the continuity test to between the chip and the USB connector.
As it turns out, the PGC Pin aka Pin13 of the chip was not connected to the USB connector. And the EaglePCB software on the layout side confirms this. The strange thing was that the Circuit diagram looked good as everything was connected. But I was not about to give up and waste another cup of coffee. What I did next would be unconventional…
What I did next
In the last few years, I have learned a little about the program’s Auto-routing and was comfortable in letting it do the major re-wiring work for me. But, as always, do remember the GIGO concept and the final results would be what I have put in. Not only that, since my circle of friends who knows about EaglePCB is limited to me, I had to make my own Rules for error checking. It might be flawed to many but as long as I get the results, I am happy with that since I barely RTFM.
No, what I really did next
The problem with EaglePCB is that once I set the GRID size, I have to remember that setting or else the snapping function would not be accurate. Sometime during the designing and/or re-designing of the circuit, I guess when I set the layout grid to 0.05mm from the default 0.1mm, I forgot to check on the connections of each trace.
This means, although the lines looked connected to the component, for my case here, it was not. And that, is the most stupid assumption to make. To counter this stupidity, I moved the components and trace lines about. If they are connected, the lines (in a limited fashion) would also move with it. And this is where I discovered the PIN03 of the USB connector was actually left hanging.
Looking back at the previous revision, the strange thing was that the USB connector was OK but the same affected PIN went to the wrong microcontroller pin. I guess this was on my to-do list to correct it but got lost in the last revision. So, write everything down, even if its insignificant, peeps.
What a waste of time and money. Damn.
Where to get what:
The 1/6th Proton Pack from TheNewHobbyist as used by Adam Savage
The Remixed Version of the above for Lighting by biho1
The simplified GB Wand by roadie3rd (but needs scaling to 8cm and has extended barrel)
