Tutorial Request

CircuitFreak

Hi, I'm really interested in the idea of being able to do low cost motion capture and was wondering if there were any tutorial online on how to build the sensors on my own?
Thanks

daylanKifky

Hi!
We would love to cover the process of creating the sensors from scratch, including getting the PCBs from a provider, and hand-soldering the components. But since in order to go through it you would need some previous SMD soldering experience, it would address only a small portion of the users.

So we are leaving that for the future and instead focusing on creating a type of sensor that can be delivered to users with all the hard part of the work already done.

If you are confident with SMD soldering and want to give it a try we would love to answer any questions or doubts you might have (and perhaps in the process start gathering material for a tutorial).

al_watts

Hi! I'm pretty confident with SMD, but sometimes it's really hard to make the parts of the circuit perfectly clear. Which tools would you suggest? Which solder paste? Which soldering iron? Which soldering iron tips?

daylanKifky

al_watts
The thing with this system in particular is that you have to solder several pieces of the LSM9DS1 sensor which comes in a nasty LGA24 (3.5 x 3mm) package. So the precautions that are common to any homemade SMD soldering process have to be increased.

For that particular piece the use of a stencil is almost mandatory, and since you would probably have to solder around 15 units making one whorts the effort.

The solder paste used has to be as fine grained as possible (type 4 or 5). I once wrote this which has some insights about the solderpaste I use.

The other components can be soldered with an iron, but the LGA has the pads hidden underneath. You have to solder it with hot air. Since you will have to repeat the operation using an oven is a good idea, it allows to do several units at the same time

And patience, lots of.. if it is the first time you try it be prepared to have a high fail rate. So purchase some spare components and PCBs