Skilled PCB fabrication providers as of late are superb, supplying you with the flexibility to get very high-quality PCBs at reasonably priced costs in only a week or two. However what if you should iterate your PCB designs shortly and don’t have time to attend that lengthy? You then’ll need to contemplate PCB fabrication methods you possibly can carry out at residence. That does, nonetheless, go away the issue of vias. To resolve that, Stephen Hawes got here up with this “Biscuit Board” thought that’s actually compelling.
Vias are like copper tunnels that join traces on one layer of a PCB to traces on one other layer. They’re vital, as a result of it’s usually not possible to route a hint with out crossing an present hint. With a by way of, you possibly can change your hint to a different layer and proceed on. However vias are actually troublesome so as to add to DIY PCBs made with typical residence lab methods, like etching, milling, and laser engraving.
The answer Hawes got here up with, which his commenters have dubbed “Biscuit Board” by means of consensus (the venture is named “Viagrid” on GitHub), is a sort of PCB clean with a number of pre-placed vias in standardized positions. The PCB designer masses a template that comprises these by way of places, to allow them to use them to route traces as wanted. They’ll then use a laser or CNC mill to chop the traces similar to they usually would and the vias will already be the place they need to be.
One other key ingredient of the Biscuit Board idea is consideration for origin and design placement. Hawes was particularly occupied with UV laser engraving machines, just like the ComMarker Omni 1 and Omni X, when he designed the Biscuit Board clean. It has particular shapes within the corners that make it straightforward to line up the laser preview on the board, so the traces completely overlap with the prevailing vias. Folks utilizing CNC mills as a substitute of lasers can set the origin much more precisely utilizing conventional methods.
That is a kind of concepts that’s simply plain helpful. Merely replenish on a bunch of Biscuit Boards, then you definately’ll be able to make prototype PCBs with vias everytime you want them. If this takes off, it’s straightforward to think about Biscuit Boards accessible in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and by way of densities.
If you wish to do that for your self, the present PCB design and template can be found on the Viagrid GitHub web page. Hawes can also be accepting requests for boards from people who find themselves critically desirous about serving to with testing and improvement.
