• Additional functionality

    j0z0r pwn4tr0n09/28/2015 at 14:58 1 comment

    As I was starting on the schematics, I realized there was some extra space around the edge that could be utilized. But for what? I have free GPIO from the Pi, but not a whole lot of room to play with. I was thinking maybe a few LEDs for status indicators, but I think user interaction would be better.

    These are the smallest buttons I could find, and they still may not be small enough, Idk yet. I have to break out the calipers, that's how close I'm cutting it. The stated 3mm width would be fine, but a look at the datasheet shows that the pads on either side extend further, making the footprint more like 4mm:

    This is just enough to make me doubt if it's possible. I can tuck one of the pads under the screen, but the other would have to be as close to the edge of the board as possible.

    Do I even need buttons? If I have one, then I at least need two more to have any sort of usable UI, and in all likelihood the Pi this board is attached to will have a keyboard. But what if someone wants to use it standalone? What if I decide to put it on an Arduino? I think flexibility for unforseen future uses is an important part of design. I'm gonna go play with the calipers and see what I can come up with

  • What to do... Hmmm?

    j0z0r pwn4tr0n09/27/2015 at 08:26 0 comments

    I sat around thinking about what I useful thing I could build in one square inch of PCB, I decided on something with blinky lights or a display. Further refining the idea, I settled on a minimalist display for a Raspberry Pi.

    Hmmm, this might just work. I have a couple of these displays laying around, but they are almost too big for the requirements.

    Plus there's no easy way to do it, one inch of the Pi's pins is the first 26, so i need something with a serial interface preferably. I picked something up a while ago that seems to be perfect:

    It fits with plenty of room to spare, space I could maybe use:

    The best part is someone has already done the hard work for me, the schematic:

    There's also a driver for the SSD1306 that I can utilize. Now to make a schematic and see what else this needs!