Pressing Charges

Unit Overview

This unit, Pressing Charges, required students to solder and construct a handheld electronic game, a pixel game boy. Following a time-lapse instructional video, each student used their kit, containing a printed circuit board (PCB), to design a functioning device. Within the process, skills such as constructing electronic circuits, soldering, and troubleshooting were key--all of which were first seen during the Cold Solder unit in EDM 1. Students started off by locating and identifying each component in the kit, noting their purpose within the circuit. The final product involved a handheld device with an LED dot matrix and corresponding buttons (based on arrows) - containing several games such as Tetris, snake, etc.

Overview of kit contents: before we started assembling the game boy, we were required to check the contents of the kit --ensuring that we had all of the components necessary. Arranging the contents like so (see above), we checked off individual boxes, before carefully re-storing the items in the provided bags.

Identifying the Kit's Contents

Overview of kit contents: LED dot matrix (2), LED numerical display, chip holder 40P, chip STC15

Overview of kit contents: Adhesive strip, press-buttons, keycaps, self-locking switch (power button), keycap for self-locking switch, USB base (and cord - not pictured), buzzer-5V, ceramic cap 104, Resistor 1kΩ, E-cap/capacitor 10uF, Triode 8550,

Assembling the Game-Boy

Soldering the capacitor, the self-locking switch, the buzzer-5V, the triode 8550, the ceramic cap 104, and the resistor 1kΩ to the PCB board: a lot of the components had polarity (such as the capacitor), so I was careful to check the way they were inserted.

Back view of the PCB after completing the first set of steps

Soldering the buttons to the PCB board (5)

Back view of the PCB after completing the second set of steps

Soldering the USB base and LED numerical display onto the PCB board: One issue I encountered occurred while soldering the numerical display--the component wasn't pushed all the way through, causing the display to be uneven from the side view. I solved this issue by applying the solder sucker to the previously solder areas and forcibly pushing the display through.

Back view of the PCB after completing the third set of steps

Soldering the Chip holder 40P to the PCB board (without the chip STC15): applying the chip to the holder was difficult as the legs of the chip kept bending inwards. I found that using tweezers to adjust the legs before assembling made it easier to push the two together (often times, the legs would bend without making contact)

Back view of the PCB after completing the fourth set of steps

Soldering the LED dot matrix to the PCB board: Unlike the numerical display, these components were completely pushed through the board.

Back view of the PCB after completing the fifth set of steps

Final front view with all components soldered (missing key caps and acrylic frame)

Final back view with all components soldered (missing acrylic frame)

Final Product

Final front view of game boy (with acrylic frame and AAA battery pack)

IMG_1378.MOV

Timelapse of assembling the frame

IMG_1382.MOV

Video of the game functioning (playing snake)

Problems Encountered and Solutions

While soldering the LED numerical display onto the PCB board, the component wasn't pushed all the way through, causing it to be uneven (some legs were pushed through more than others). I resolved this issue by applying the solder sucker to each of the soldered legs and snapping the components in place. After repeating this process 2-3 times, the majority of the solder disappeared, and the positioning was fixed.
It was difficult to assemble the frame onto the circuit, as I was unsure of where to place the screws and battery pack. However, after closely reviewing the instructional video and looking at a finished example, I was able to successfully build the frame.

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