ASSIGNMENT

• propose a final project that integrates the range of units covered, answering:

Have you answered these questions:

what will it do?

who has done what beforehand?

what materials and components will be required?

where will they come from?

how much will it cost?

The answers to the questions above will allow you to create your BOM, or Bill Of Materials.

what parts and systems will be made?

what processes will be used?

what tasks need to be completed?

what questions need to be answered?

what is the schedule?

how will it be evaluated?

Easy Tester

My proposed project is a component tester based on Atmega328P microcontroller. The device can test almost all passive and active components. It will be a good and usefull instrument for each fablab, making this requires a few non inventory componenets. Currently we have hand held multimeters which is used for the measurement of voltage,current,resistance,diode and short circuit checks. Easy tester will meet all the electronic componenet testing needs of all fabbers.

What will it do?

Easy Tester is an complete passive and active component tester for both SMD as well as Leaded . The componenets which can be tested are listed below.

1. Resistors
2. Capacitors
3. Inductors
4. BJTs
5. Diodes
6. MOSFETS
7. LED's
8. PWM generation
9. Frequency counter
10. Zener diode Testing

Who's done what beforehand?

The idea of making these kind of instrument came into my mind before starting the academy, as it is more usefull instrument for the fabbers especially for those who doesn't have knowledge in electronics. In the first day of academy i.e on 25th January 2017 i got the first chance to meet Prof.Neil and introduced myself. At that time he asked about my final project and i told the project idea, He was very interested in this project and given the green flag to making it, Meanwhile i found a lot of open source projects in componenet tester available in internet. Also searched fab academy archieves but i couldn't found such projects. Then i fixed to do this project, and got inspired from one of the article AVR transistor tester by Markus Frejek & Karl-Heinz Kübbeler.

What materials and components will be required?

The total componenets and materials required are listed in the table.

Bill of materials & componenets required for easy tester

Where will they come from?

Most of the componenets are available in Fab inventory and some extra capacitors,resistors and transistors i need to purchase locally. I will list here what are all the componenets i purchased locally

List of componenets for local purchase

How much will it cost?

I have prepared a spread sheet document and consolidated the total cost for making Easy Tester

The total componenet cost for making the Easy tester is around 16.50 USD (app.INR - Rs.1072.50) and for a fab lab if you spend around 3 USD ( app.INR- Rs.300.00) and using the inventory componenets you can make a very usefull instrument for your Lab.

What parts and systems will be made?

The whole project was divided into four different sections

1. Electronic Design and fabrication
2. Mechanical Design and Fabrication
3. Embedded programming
4. Integration and packaging

For each of the processes different parts will be there which are listed below.

Electronic Design and fabrication

• PCB Design
• Double sided PCB fabrication
• Integration pcb design and fabrication

Mechanical Design and Fabrication

• Bottom cover
• Top cover
• Slide cap
• SMD portable probe
• Metal casting of jacks

Embedded programming

• Programming the board

Integration and packaging

• Integration of connectors
• Pcb assembly
• Final assembly of the instrument
• Carry case design and fabrication
• Vinyl stickering

what processes will be used?

I am planning to use the following process in each section for my Easy tester

Electronic Design and fabrication

• PCB design using eagle
• Double sided pcb fabrication using Modela MDX20
• Soldering of the pcb

Mechanical Design and Fabrication

• Case design using Rhinocerous
• Ultimkaer 3D printer for case printing
• SMD probe 3D printing
• Metal casting for making the probe jacks

Integration and packaging

• Connector soldering and integration
• Vinyl cutting of labels and stickers
• Laser cutting of carry case using Trotec speedy 100 in 4mm plywood

What tasks need to be completed?

I am preparing a shedule for the whole project and is shown below, As if now, i started the designing of the PCB and ordered the components from Hyderabad. The remaining task needs to be completed as per the schedule.

What questions need to be answered?

As the time duration for the project is limited , i am planning to add the basic features only. I am not that much good in programming , So i have to refer some codes rather making new one. I am planning to add some more features to it later for testing the power devices like IGBT,TRIAC and DIAC etc. I need to study very well before starting it. Next i ma planning to implement four wire measurements which i have to study in detail.

what is the schedule?

I am making a schedule to execute the entire project, the exact status will be updated after completing each task.

Easy Tester Work Schedule

How will it be evaluated?

Easy Tester is an electronic testing instrument which needs proper operation in all times. It's characteristics may change time to time due to enviornment,time and physical use. So, it is better to caliberate the equipment atleast once in an year will ensures the quality of its results. I am planning to make a good calibration schemes to my easy tester. I am not sure that i can finish this in this short duration , However i am sharing all the documentation into my git hub account under the Easy Tester project, you can refer it later for the upadations. finally my easy Tester can be evaluated based on the performance of it.

Future of the Project?

Currently i am planning to calibrate it correctly and once that is over, I am planning to make the next edition of it with graphics displays like Nokia5110 displays or OLED display, By using smaller displays i can reduce the total size of the device so that it will be very handy. After that i am planning it to spread over the entire minifablab network in kerala, and after based on the feedbacks and updations later i am planning to spread it to all fab labs. As it is a usefull instrument for every electronics engineer and learners, I am planning a future upgradation of the device with an app compatibility, So that the values will be displayed on Mobile app.