Latest Thoughts

Well as I wait for some new hardware to come in, I am contemplating the design, the trade-offs, the options... for future projects and builds.   One idea I had was to actually put the piezo on it's own board with passthrough headers.  I could use the last pin P5 because it is not used on the RGB board.  But then, should I take the POV board down to 5 leds?  I have a CharliePlex Board in the works and that will take 5 pins.  It will have 6 leds and two buttons and I imagine using it as some type of versatile game tool.  You'll be able to roll a die (randomly pick 1-6) or perhaps have a 60 second countdown timer that turned off an led every 10 seconds.  You might wonder why not just use this for the POV stuff.  I am guessing, but I am pretty sure the charlieplexing would not be suitable for POV display.  Anyway, the buzzer/speaker could be an add-on to both boards.  That would leave the sensor board with two buttons, a thermistor and the LDR.  This makes sense for the LDR... it should be on top... just like the RGB led.  One possible problem... if the buzzer is too tall. I just checked and it looks like it may be 8.5 mm tall, which might fit with extra space (the pins don't go all the way in)... but there is also the risk that it fits... but is muzzled.  Oh well... we'll see... one day whenever they come in.

In the mean time, here is a pic of the last USB connector being put to use...

I used my new Dremel to round the corners for putting it on the keychain.  I'll see how well it holds up.  For well under $3 in parts, I think I can experiment.  

I also wrote a nifty little sketch that will have the device emulate a keyboard and ten seconds after it is plugged in, it will begin typing out an embedded text file.  I have it spit out my contact information... like an electronic lost and found tag!

Here is the final board layout...

On another note, since I am out of USB Mini connectors (again) I thought I should order some more.  It turns out that the best deal on Aliexpress was for a lot of 100.  At least while being able to trim 1-2 weeks off of the shipping (hopefully).  The order was shy of $7 so I am not really too concerned... I could afford this kind of mistake.  The connectors ARE through hole so we will have to see how that goes.  The only concern I have is for the small pads... much like the RGB led.  I worked on a KiCAD footprint for the part and I think I have gotten the pads as large as they can be.  The problem is is that I now have to route one of the data lines with a via.  I am not sure if the trade off is worth it.  Again, I will find out when the parts arrive.

Waiting, waiting waiting.....

What to do next?