How to use a solderless Arduino breadboard. Development boards

The one that gave birth to the holivar in the comments. Many Arduino supporters, according to them, just want to assemble something like flashing LEDs in order to diversify their leisure time and play around. At the same time, they don’t want to bother with etching boards and soldering. As one of the alternatives, my friend mentioned the “Connoisseur” designer, but its capabilities are limited by the set of parts included in the kit, and the designer is still for children. I want to offer another alternative - the so-called Breadboard, a breadboard for mounting without soldering.
Be careful, there are a lot of photos.

What is it and what is it eaten with?

The electrical connection diagram of the sockets is shown in the right figure: five holes on each side, in each of the rows (in in this case 30) are electrically connected to each other. On the left and right there are two power lines: here all the holes in the column are connected to each other. The slot in the middle is designed for installation and convenient removal of chips in DIP packages. To assemble the circuit, radio components and jumpers are inserted into the holes, since I received the board without factory jumpers - I made them from metal paper clips, and small ones (for connecting adjacent sockets) from staples.
It may seem that the larger the board, the greater its functionality, but this is not entirely true. There is a very small chance that someone (especially a beginner) will assemble a device that will occupy all segments of the board; here are several devices at the same time - yes. For example, here I assembled an electronic ignition on a microcontroller, a transistor-based multivibrator and a frequency generator for an LC meter:

So what can you do about it?

Necessary parts

LED connection

Linear voltage stabilizer

Pulse generator based on logical elements

Transistor multivibrator

In conclusion

When circuits are soldered, you can do everything without additions. But then there is a fairly high probability that something may short-circuit. And then the scheme will not work. To eliminate this drawback and bring the results of the work into a more or less decent form, they use such a simple and effective invention as a breadboard. What is she? What varieties are there?

Development board

How to use such an invention? First, let's clarify the terminological component. A development board is a universal blank that is used to assemble and model prototypes electronic devices. They can be divided into two types:

1. Those where soldering is used.
2. Those where there is no soldering.

When creating prototypes of electronic devices, everyone faces several problems:

1. The breadboard must be designed from scratch and then manufactured. If an error is made, it will have to be redone.
2. Creating a single copy is usually not profitable.
3. If the circuit is made on microcircuits with a low degree of integration and analog elements, then it will be easier to make it using wall-mounted installation. But it will be very difficult to make microprocessor devices in this way.

Beginning radio amateurs are in the least advantageous position: since they do not yet have the skills to design circuits, they have to operate “at random.” Therefore on at the moment A wide range of different breadboards are produced, where different short tracks are laid, and a person will only have to connect the parts to get the necessary circuit.

Varieties

There are several types of breadboards:

1. Universal. They only have metallized holes that will be connected by the developer.
2. For digital devices. There are separate places in them where you can place microcircuits. There are also power supply buses throughout the board.
3. Specialized. They are created for various devices that must operate on certain chips. As a rule, they are very functional and well-designed.

Also, depending on how they are made, there are two types:

1. Solderless breadboard. The advantages of this type are usually called integrity and accuracy of execution (if we talk about industrial designs).
2. Soldered breadboard. Cheapness and opportunity easy change devices - these are the main advantages of this type.

Development boards for socket mounting

Such blanks have thousands of holes that are connected to each other by means of metal strips. The leads of microcircuits and radio components are inserted into the holes and then connected using jumpers. The long rows of pins that can be seen at the bottom, middle and top of the board are the power rails. They are used to connect multiple points in a circuit to ground and the power supply. Under each hole there is an elastic contact special form, which ensures high conductivity and durability of connections. The development board is stackable. In such cases, grooves are located on the side faces to connect several devices into one large one.

Conclusion

The development board significantly simplifies the developer’s work. It also increases the stability of the circuit, so don’t hesitate to use the device. It should also be noted important role, which a development board plays for people just starting to develop electronic devices, because many of these blanks are already produced for the creation of certain devices. Therefore, when designing a popular circuit, it makes sense to look to see if there is already a blank for it, because if the answer is positive, then this will significantly save time.

Let's look at the design and purpose of solderless breadboards. What is their advantage over other types of assembly, and how to work with them, as well as what circuits a beginner can quickly assemble with them.

Background

The first problem that a radio amateur faces is not even a lack of theoretical knowledge, but a lack of tools and knowledge about how to install electronic devices. If you don’t know how this or that part works, this will not prevent you from connecting it according to the electrical circuit diagram, but in order to clearly and efficiently assemble the circuit, you need a printed circuit board. Most often they are made using the LUT method, but laser printer Not everyone has it. Our fathers and grandfathers painted the boards by hand with nail polish or paint, and then etched them.

Here the beginner is faced with the second problem - the lack of etching reagents. Yes, of course, ferric chloride is sold in every radio store electronic components, but at first there is so much to acquire and study that it is simply difficult to pay attention to the technology of etching boards made of foil PCB or getinax. And not only for beginners, but also for experienced radio amateurs, sometimes it makes no sense to etch a board and spend money on an unfinished product at the stages of its adjustment.

To avoid problems with finding ferric chloride, PCB, a printer, and not to get punished by your wife (mother) for unauthorized use of an iron, you can practice installing electronic devices on solderless breadboards.

What is a solderless breadboard?

As the name suggests, this is a board on which you can assemble a device prototype without using a soldering iron. The layout - as it is popularly called - is present in stores different sizes and the models are slightly different in layout, but the principle of operation and their internal structure are the same.

The development board consists of a housing made of ABS plastic, in which there are detachable connections that resemble double metal bars between which the conductor is clamped. On the front part of the case there are holes, numbered and marked, into which you can insert wires, microcircuit legs, transistors and other radio components in cases with leads. Take a look at the picture below, where I depicted all this.

On the considered printed circuit board, the outer two columns of holes on each side are combined vertically with common buses, from which the positive bus of the power supply and the minus (common bus) are usually formed. Usually indicated by a red and blue stripe along the edge of the board, plus and minus, respectively.

The middle part of the board is divided into two parts, each part is connected in a row of five holes in a row on this particular board. The figure shows a schematic connection of the holes (black solid lines).

The internal structure of the board is shown in the figure below. Double busbars clamp the conductors, as illustrated. Bold lines indicate internal connections.

In the English-speaking environment, such boards are called Breadboard, which is the name by which you can find it on aliexpress and similar online stores.

How to work with it?

Simply insert the legs of electronic components into the holes, connecting the parts together according to horizontal lines, and from the extreme vertical ones you supply power. If you need a jumper, they often use special ones with thin plugs at the ends; in stores you can find them under the name “dupont jumpers” or jumpers for Arduino; by the way, you can also insert it into such a breadboard and assemble your projects.

If the size of one breadboard is not enough for you, you can combine several, they are like puzzles inserted into each other, pay attention to the first picture in the article, the circuit is assembled on two connected boards. There is a spike on one of them, and a recess on the other, beveled from the outer part to the board body so that the structure does not fall apart.

Assembly simple circuits on a breadboard

It is important for a novice radio amateur to quickly assemble the circuit to make sure it works and understand how it works. Let's see what they look like different schemes on the breadboard.

The symmetrical multivibrator circuit is recommended as a first for many beginners; it allows you to learn how to connect parts in series and parallel, as well as determine the pinout of transistors. It can be assembled by surface mounting or by wiring a printed circuit board, but this requires soldering, and surface mounting, despite its simplicity, is actually very difficult for beginners and is fraught with short circuits or poor contact.

Look how simple it looks on a solderless breadboard.

By the way, please note that Dupont jumpers were not used here. In general, they cannot always be found in radio stores, and especially in stores in small towns. Instead, you can use cores from an Internet cable ( twisted pair) they are insulated, and the core is not varnished, which allows you to quickly expose the end of the cable by removing a small layer of insulation and inserting it into the connector on the board.

You can connect the parts in any way you like, as long as you provide the required circuit; here is the same diagram, but assembled slightly differently.

By the way, to describe the connections, you can use the board markings; columns are designated by letters, and rows by numbers.

For your designs, there are such power supplies, they have plugs that are mounted in a solderless board connecting to the “+” and “-” buses. It is convenient, it has a switch and a linear low-noise voltage regulator. In general, it will not be difficult for you to wire such a board yourself and assemble it.

Like this, for example, to check it. The picture shows a more “advanced” version of the printed circuit board with clamp terminals for connecting a power source. The anode of the LED is connected to the power plus (red bus) and the cathode to the horizontal bus of the work area, where it is connected to a current-limiting resistor.

Power source on a linear stabilizer type L7805, or any other L78xx series microcircuit, where xx is the voltage you need.

Assembled tweeter circuit based on logic. Correct name such a circuit is a Pulse Generator based on logical elements of type 2i-not. First, familiarize yourself with the electrical circuit diagram.

A domestic K155LA3 or a foreign type 74HC00 is suitable as a logic chip. Elements R and C set the operating frequency. Here is its implementation on a board without soldering.

On the right, covered with white paper, is a buzzer. It can be replaced with an LED if you reduce the frequency.

The greater the resistance OR capacitance, the lower the frequency.

And this is what a typical Arduino project looks like at the testing and development stage (and sometimes in its final form, depending on how lazy he is).

Actually in lately The popularity of “bradboards” has increased significantly. They allow you to quickly assemble circuits and check their functionality, and also use them as a connector when flashing microcircuits in a DIP package, and in other packages if there is an adapter.

Limitations of solderless breadboard

Despite their simplicity and obvious advantages over soldering, solderless breadboards also have a number of disadvantages. The fact is that not all circuits work normally in such a design, let's take a closer look.

It is not recommended to assemble powerful converters on solderless breadboards, especially pulse circuits. The first ones will not work normally due to current bandwidth contact tracks. You should not go beyond currents of more than 1-2 Amperes, although there are also reports on the Internet that they include 5 Amperes, draw your own conclusions and experiment.

Electrical safety

We should not forget that high voltage life-threatening. Prototyping of devices operating, for example, from 220 V is strictly PROHIBITED. Although the terminals are covered with a plastic panel, a bunch of conductors and jumpers can lead to an accidental short circuit or electric shock!

Conclusion

Solderless breadboard is suitable for simple circuits, analog circuits which do not place high demands on electrical connections and precision, automation and digital circuits that do not operate on high speeds(GigaHertz and tens of MegaHertz are too much). At the same time, high voltage and currents are dangerous and for such purposes it is better to use wall-mounted installations and printed circuit boards, however, a beginner should not carry out overhead installation of such chains. The element of solderless breadboards - the simplest circuits of up to a dozen elements and amateur projects on Arduino and other microcontrollers.

Hi all. Today we will talk about solderless breadboard or breadboard, as the bourgeoisie call it. This board, so to speak, is included in the list of mandatory tools that an electronics engineer should have (whether he is a young brainiac who is just taking his first tentative steps or a seasoned brainiac who has seen life).

Knowledge of what types of breadboards there are, how and where such tools are used will help you when developing and setting up your own projects of various electronics. homemade.

The first boards looked like this:

Metal stands were attached to the base, onto which wires and contact terminals of the elements were subsequently secured (simply wound).

It's good that technical progress does not stand still - because thanks to his influence we can use such wonderful tools.

As opposed to a solderless breadboard, you can use these (they are much cheaper and are manufactured based on the required parameters).

However, when mounting on a solderless board, you will not need a soldering iron/solder. In addition, you will avoid the difficulties associated with soldering parts on the surface of the board.

The rule of good manners, and common sense, has always been and remains prototyping electronic circuits. It is important to know how the device will behave under certain specific parameters before assembling the finished device.

In addition, using a solderless board, you can check the functionality new components and radio components.

Let's look at the structure of a solderless board

Let's look at the board drawing. It consists of rows of metal plates (rails).

The rails, in turn, consist of clamps into which the “legs” of radio components are installed. All 5 holes in a row are connected together.

Now let's turn our attention to two vertical/horizontal stripes (depending on what position you look at), which are located separately (at the edges) - these are the power plates. All sockets of one long plate are connected to each other.

The central groove insulates the sides of the board. The width of this strip is fixed by the standard. It allows you to install DIP chips in such a way that each pin is installed in a separate rail and allows you to connect up to 4 external pins.

The boards are marked with alphabetic and digital sequences. These designations help you navigate when installing components in order to avoid erroneous connections (which could result in the circuit not working or failure of individual parts).

They also produce boards that are made on separate stands with special clamping terminals. They are used to connect the power supply to the board.

If you noticed, some boards have special grooves and protrusions (they are located on the sides). With their help, you can combine boards and create a work surface of any size.

Also, some boards have a self-adhesive backing on the back.

The figure shows a method of “powering” the board from Arduino.

If you come across a board with terminals for power supply, you need to connect them to the lines on the breadboard using conductors (jumpers). The terminals are not connected to any line. To connect a wire to a terminal, remove (unscrew) the plastic cap and place the end of the wire into the hole. Reinstall the cap. Typically two terminals are used: for power and for ground.

Now all that's left to do is connect external source nutrition. This can be done with:

• jumpers;

• “crocodiles” or ordinary wires;

• power stabilizer modules that are produced for solderless boards.

Thank you for your attention. To be continued :)

To design and debug prototypes of a wide variety of Arduino devices, breadboards are used (another name is solderless circuit boards and breadboards). They come in several varieties and differ in size and some other design features. Breadboard breadboard boards can help both novice engineers in creating simple circuits and in prototyping complex devices. This article will tell you what a development board is and how to use this device.

Rarely is it real Arduino project contains less than 5-10 elements connected to each other. Even in a simple, well-known beacon circuit, 2 elements are used, an LED and a resistor, which must somehow be connected to each other. And this is where the question arises of how to do this.

At the moment, there are the following main installation methods that are used in electronics and robotics at the prototyping stage:

• Soldering. To do this, use special boards with holes into which parts are inserted and connected to each other by soldering (using a soldering iron) and jumpers.
• Cheat. Using this technology, the contact connections of devices are combined with development board by winding a clean wire to the pin contact.

The most modern option for creating prototypes is a solderless breadboard, which has undoubted advantages:

• Ability to carry out debugging work large number once changing the modification of circuits and methods of connecting devices;
• The ability to connect several boards into one large one, which allows you to work with more complex and large projects;
• Simplicity and speed of prototyping;
• Durability and reliability.

The English version of the name of a solderless breadboard is breadboard.

Development board diagram

To know how to use a development board, you need to understand the principle of its design.

The solderless development board has a plastic base with many holes (the standard distance between them is 2.54 mm). Inside the structure are rows of metal plates. Each plate has clips that are hidden in the plastic part of the unit.

The wires are inserted into these clips. When a conductor is connected to one of the individual holes, the contact is simultaneously connected to all other contacts of the separate row.

It is worth noting that one rail contains 5 clips. This is the general standard for all solderless boards. That is, up to five elements can be connected to each rail, and they will be interconnected.

It should be noted that although there are ten holes in each row, they are still divided into two isolated parts, five in each. Between them there is a rail without pins. This design is necessary to isolate the plates from each other, and allows you to simply connect chips made in DIP packages.

Some development boards also include two power lines on each side. Typically, the “red line” is used to supply “+” voltage, the “blue” line for “-”. Due to the presence of two power buses, the board can be supplied with two different levels voltage.

To make it easier to navigate, the breadboard also contains numerical and alphabetic symbols that can be used as a guide when creating, for example, wiring instructions.

Main types of development boards

Development boards differ in the number of pins located on the panel, the number of buses and configuration. There are also breadboards in which contact connections are made by soldering, but working with them is more difficult than with solderless devices.

Depending on the characteristics, the most common types are:

• For assembly large chips Mostly solderless boards with 830 or 400 holes are used. For connecting several components and supplying wires to the necessary points - 8, 10, 16 holes;
• With the presence of grooves for adhesion of boards, which allow the implementation of fairly large projects;
• With self-adhesive on the base for secure fastening to the device;
• With symbols printed on the board for connecting devices.

Depending on the cost and manufacturer, the package may also include additional accessories - jumper wires, various connectors. But the main quality criterion always remains the number of contact connectors and their technical characteristics.

How to use a development board

Using the breadboard is quite simple. When creating a circuit, the necessary elements are inserted into the holes on the plastic case - capacitors, resistors, various indicators, LEDs, etc. The width of the connectors allows you to connect conductors with a cross-section from 0.4 to 0.7 mm to the contacts.

The simplest example of creating a circuit prototype using a breadboard would be the following implementation:

To assemble it you need to take:

• Breadboard;
• wires for connection;
• 1 LED;
• tact button;
• resistor with a nominal resistance of 330 Ohms;
• 9V Krona battery.

The plus of the battery is connected to the positive bus, and the minus to the negative. If the circuit is assembled correctly, then when you press the button the LED will light up.

Attention! Solderless breadboards are absolutely unacceptable to use with a voltage of 220V!

Breadboard breadboards are optimal for creating almost any digital circuits and are not intended for assembling analog circuits with high sensitivity to resistance values. In their practice, they are often used by both beginners who understand the basics of circuitry and experienced professionals due to the ease of installation and high quality connections of working contacts.