Contact us

Sponsors

PCB "Printed Circuit Build-fest" ( Jan 2005 )

Here's a society activity for all full members of our troop!  (Even those long-distance list-lurkers)  

On January 22, 09:00, Quentin will be holding an Eagle CAD Workshop to help beginners of the learning hump so that our members can create robot-related printed circuit boards.  Once our members create these boards they will email them to us and we will create one large "job" for APCircuits.

APCircuits has graciously volunteered to cover your cost entirely!  There is NO charge for the members side of the circuit board design!  THANKS APCircuits! ***

Once complete, the PCB's will be mailed to the creators and the files will be held on this site for downloading for other members to enjoy!

Here's a suggested sequence:

1. Now:  Download the free version of Eagle "Eagle Light Edition" and install on your computer.  Play with the environment and try to get a feel for it before the Nov 13, 2003 meeting

2. Jan 22:  PCB Day!  This meeting will feature PCB design theory ( intro ) and fabrication.  Bring your laptops!

3. March 1: Deadline to submit your PCB's to PCB-@-robotgames.com via email (remove dashes).  Please keep them below 3"x3".  You may even ask to have  someone else's board ( from our library ) created for you if you wish!  All pcb's submitted must be allowed to be added to our WCRS PCB Library for our members benefit.    

4. We will compile all boards to a single large board and submit them to APCircuits for prototyping (P1 Service)  You will get two boards!

Now, if you're an online lurker, you can still participate as long as you are a full member!  If you don't want to build your own PCB, but like the look of one of the PCB's in our library, you can submit one of those! ( as long as your total size is less than 3"x3")

Any Questions?  Please email!

Why Eagle?

There are a lot of great PCB design packages out there, and last year we used Protel "Easytrax" as a platform.  Protel are probably the leader in PCB design software but there are two problems.  The full version of their software is prohibitively expensive for hobbyists ($ thousands $) and the free version (EasyTrax) is an old DOS version that several members had problems with on new operating systems.

Eagle is used by a lot of our members because:

• Free "Light" version - limited to small two sided boards
• Low cost "not-for-profit" version - more layers, bigger boards
• Kilobuck version if you need to design a large multilayer board
• Windows, Linux and Mac versions in multiple languages
• Very powerful - if a bit quirky.

Download Eagle Light Edition

WCRS PCB Library

Feel free to download and use the PCB's from our members!