Desktop Traffic Light
A goofy idea turns into a much bigger project.
3/10/2019, 4:29:59 PM
today's goofy idea.. modeling a USB-powered desktop traffic light to indicate Xcode build status: red -> failed yellow -> building/testing green -> success green+yellow -> success w/ warnings
3/10/2019, 10:11:17 PM
TADA 🎉🎉 Here is it! (still need to print a stand, but it works!!)
The Xcode traffic light!
3/10/2019, 10:38:38 PM
it's pretty amazing that with the current state of home manufacturing tech you can go from a goofy idea to a completely working prototype gadget in a matter of hours
3/11/2019, 3:39:25 PM
arduino/hardware peeps: what is the smallest microcontroller board with 5V logic, a few gpio pins, and USB serial support that you know of?
3/12/2019, 3:19:13 PM
@bikerglen i just picked up some PIC16F1459's to play with.. thanks for the rec (and your blog post)!
3/14/2019, 8:03:56 PM
Ok, so.... I have a few of these USB connector through-hole components... but the leads are super short and don’t go through the board...??!? What do???
3/15/2019, 10:53:10 AM
from the manufacturer: "we recommend a pcb thickness of 1.0mm" lol, okkkk......
3/18/2019, 6:48:34 PM
well, until i get the SMD stuff figured out, i'm using an arduino as the motherboard (for some reason terminal blocks make any project feel legit)
3/19/2019, 11:09:52 PM
been learning to program bare metal PIC16F1459 uC (with prodding and help from @bikerglen) and have a nice blinking led to show for it! (also made an ICSP programming circuit, seen in midground next to battery)
3/22/2019, 5:27:33 PM
Ok, breakout boards from @oshpark arrived.. time to see if the solder will wick through the holes to the tiny leads... those are the smallest THT pads I’ve ever seen 😳
3/25/2019, 6:10:15 PM
Baby’s first successful SMD solder. Took forever and looks super ugly, but by some miracle it works! 🤷♂️
3/29/2019, 5:46:15 PM
A tragedy in 4 acts:
1) I received these beautiful boards from @PCBWayOfficial and excitedly set out to solder them and conquer my fear of SMD
3/29/2019, 5:47:20 PM
2) I manage to do a much better job soldering the SMD pads this time around.. I'm actually proud of them! I add the other through-hold components..
3/29/2019, 5:48:57 PM
3) I start trying to program the PIC with the ICSP headers, and I'm getting all sorts of errors about communicating with the chip... uh oh...
3/29/2019, 5:52:11 PM
4) Stupid me decided to move the resistor right before sending to the fab and didn't run DRC which would have yelled at me for the FOUR shorts I created by moving it... UUUGGGGHHHHHH!!! Not @PCBWayOfficial fault, but I am truly bummed at myself. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
3/31/2019, 6:44:02 PM
Populated. Looks great on a breadboard and the programmer fits perfectly on the ICSP headers
4/8/2019, 6:45:11 PM
4 desktop traffic lights completely printed, soldered, and assembled. Powered by PIC16F1459 @MicrochipMakes @MarkAtMicrochip
