March 26, 2013  

PCB design

I am trying to figure out how to connect PCBs to each other. I have posted the following question in the sparkfun forum on PCB design.

“Hi,

I am fairly new to electronics and very new to PCB design. I am trying to create a row of LEDs that are RGB controlled in small segments using a TLC5940 to either make downlighting or for lighting artwork for different effects. I will be daisy chaining up to 10 together, but I want to design my PCB to have both the LEDs and the TLC5940 on one PCB and then be able to connect to additional copies of the PCB. So all these PCBs need to lay flat in the same plane. How can I best connect PCBs to each other for this? Right now I have thrown in a shrouded 10 pin header which i could connect via ribbon wire (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8506). but this seems like it is unnecessary and large. I need 8 pins at least. What other options are there?”

Below is my schematic that I have right now. Hopefully I can get some answers on this.

LED Schematic

Schematic for my LED PCB

6 responses to “PCB design”

  1. Sunman Engineering (@SunmanEng) says :

    Hi,
    We have asked our engineers for feedback on this. It looks your design is as simple and cheap as it can get. But for example, the JP1 and JP2 components look the same, they have the same inputs. You should tray to have them Male/Female, this way you can connect the diagram without using any ribbon. Hope this helps, let us know!

    Reply
    • buffavaholic says :

      Thanks for your comments! Yes I had put in two male connectors because I couldn’t find a good way to directly connect the PCBs so I thought maybe I could connect them with ribbon cable at least. I am having issues finding an appropriate male female pair that is in any of the libraries for designspark

      Reply
  2. looe apartments says :

    Does your website have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it but, I’d like to send you an e-mail.

    I’ve got some creative ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great website and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.

    Reply
    • buffavaholic says :

      I prefer to not put my email on here, partially to avoid spam bots but also to promote a collaborative environment. If you have some ideas that can’t be discussed publicly let me know and I can set up an email to contact me with.

      Reply

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