HackLab Intro Workshop Series: PCB Design, Assembly, and Programming

This is a continuation of the HackLab.TO Intro to... Workshop Series.

You'll be expected, where possible, to bring your own laptop with the following tools installed:

• Kicad 7
• Inkscape (optional - needed for artwork import)
• GIMP ( (optional - needed for artwork import)

INTRO TO PCD DESIGN - Class 1, Sunday, September 29, 2024, 2pm to 5pm.

The first class will be an intro to PCB design using an electronic badge as an example. A section of the schematic and PCB will be designed for you which will consist of a microcontroller (rp2040) along with all the electronics to get it working and communicating with a PC.

Through the class you'll be given an intro on how to read and understand schematics followed by a tutorial on how to add components. You'll have the option of designing a simple custom section or following the guide on designing the rest of the board using LEDs and buttons. With the schematic done, we'll move on to designing a PCB including how to import artwork. Due to some of the complexity of designing PCBs, the types of components and number will be somewhat limited - we'd like to get the design done within 6 hours.

The outcome of the class is that, after a month, everyone will get a copy of the board they designed for use in the second class - an intro to soldering.

INTRO TO SOLDERING - Class 2, Sunday, October 27, 2024, 2pm to 5pm.

The second class will be learning to solder components onto the board. Some components will be pre-soldered before the course to help accomodate all learning levels. Both suface-mount and through-hole techniques will be shown with the opportunity to practice either through-hole or SMT depending on what you designed in the first class. This class is intended to complete the assembly of the hardware for the project, to then be used in the third class - an intro to microcontroller programming.

INTRO TO MICROCONTROLLER PROGRAMMING - Class 3, Sunday, November 24, 2024, 2pm to 5pm.

The third class will be learning to program the microcontroller, including setting up the software environment and understanding the sample code. We will then adapt it to your specific PCB and hardware.

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