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PCB on a diet

A project log for Remote Control Mini Blimp!

Mini blimp flies through hoops! Features 3 DC motors/ propellers, battery charging, and wireless communication.

sophi-kravitzSophi Kravitz 11/17/2017 at 20:003 Comments

The blimp board that combines ESP, motor controllers, and battery charging is here!

I assembled this in a few off hours before Supercon without the tools that I'm used to. Tried out a hot air gun for assembly for the first time and I really liked it for removing misplaced components. I think I'll stick with my pancake griddle for faster assembly though :)

You can see (green area) where I ripped the USB port off the PCB and the traces too... a friend fixed it by adding a piece of the board he was working on to mine. <3

I am going to redesign using a micro USB with legs so it doesn't fall off. 

Also, the board is a bit overweight, but only by a few grams. I will have to see how I can reduce.

Discussions

Clara Hobbs wrote 11/18/2017 at 01:06 point

It kind of looks like you could put another hole under the ESP module's antenna.  If you moved some traces around, maybe it could even extend under the circuit part of the module.

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Sophi Kravitz wrote 12/04/2017 at 13:37 point

I tried putting a hole under the antenna and shaved off a couple of grams. Thanks!

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liebman wrote 11/17/2017 at 20:48 point

Sweet!   Maybe put as much of the charging circuitry as possible on a separate board?  And/Or charge the battery, off the board....

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