Where I live, one cannot buy an Arduino very cheaply. I figure, if I make one for my own purpose on a pcb then it would be much cheaper and would be much more fun. I cannot find any etchable PDF on the internet so can anyone point me to one?
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\$\begingroup\$ It's hard to imagine a place on earth where it would be cheaper to make your own PCB instead of ordering an Arduino on eBay. But, hey, more fun - that's a sure thing :-) ! \$\endgroup\$– Eli BenderskyCommented Mar 10, 2010 at 18:17
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\$\begingroup\$ actually I don't know the price to get a PCB constructed in the market here, but I was talking about the toner transfer method to try at home \$\endgroup\$– Rick_2047Commented Mar 11, 2010 at 5:55
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3 Answers
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There's a single-sided arduino PCB that you can etch at home:
http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardSerialSingleSided
A smaller alternative is the Really Bare Bones Board (RBBB), it's Arduino compatible and comes with design files:
http://www.moderndevice.com/products/rbbb-kit
Or, you could do without a PCB and go for a Paperduino:
http://lab.guilhermemartins.net/2009/05/06/paperduino-prints/
answered Mar 10, 2010 at 19:50
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\$\begingroup\$ I really liked the paperduino idea, its just perfect for my purposes (if i could get it to work) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 11, 2010 at 5:53
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In fact, the layout files to (almost) all the Arduino boards are available on their respective pages, linked here: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Hardware
I would recommend the updated version of the Arduino Single-Sided Serial board, described here: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardSerialSingleSided3
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\$\begingroup\$ ok i have this doubt, I have an old computer which actually has a serial port. Now is it necessary that I add the usb converter? Will that make any difference to the software? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 15, 2010 at 7:07
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\$\begingroup\$ The software on the PC talks to a "COM port". It neither knows nor cares that the serial bits are being translated to USB packets by a PC device driver, sent down the USB cable, and translated back to serial bits by the FTDI chip. The software would work exactly the same with a standard PC RS232 serial port connected to a serial cable with some sort of 12 V RS232 - to - RS232-TTL converter, such as the MAX232. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 10, 2010 at 12:15
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I don't believe that the board layout files for the Arduino are available, but you can pick up the design files for the Freeduino here. It's not the Arduino, but it should be compatible enough. I don't know if it's the sort of thing you'd want to etch yourself at home but you're welcome to try. So far as I saw, the boards don't come in PDF format - just Gerber and Eagle, so pick up Gerbv from Sourceforge to convert to PDF.
