Steve's Things

I thought I would have nothing to post but I do I guess. I’ve felt the need to really expedite this project now that I am starting a business. I have done a few of the mechanical things associated with it after a major redesign. Today I have completed the design of the board and despite it’s sloppiness, I’m happy it’s done. Now to get it made.

Viscometer Board 3D View

Viscometer Board traces

Like I state in the description, I used the autorouter on this image, I may revise many of the traces so that ripple can be eliminated from IC’s by bringing the caps closer electrically to Gnd and Vcc. This week I hope to finish the machining side of the device, I’ll have to wait for bolts from Fastenal to arrive but it’ll be worth the wait. Here are some shots of the parts so far, note that the main block is made of phenolic, I love this material since it looks kind of like wood but is reasonably machinable.

Machining the block

Phenolic Block Finished

Coming along, main block and holders finished

Just for the record, here is the list of, well electrical features:

1. 16 key Keypad for data entry, mostly for calibration.
2. 16×2 LCD display for seeing alarms and viscometer output.
3. 24V motor, PWM driven with TIP102
4. Light interrupted sensors for top and bottom
5. provisions for temperature sensing
6. RS-485 Out
7. Provision for an external RS-232 board, if needed
8. TVS’ed to the hilt, hopefully this will prevent funny stuff from happening.

Anyways, let’s hope she all works out in the end.