Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
7. Modifying the Shape of an Arduino
Tiffany Tseng
“Design is the method of putting form and content together.”
—Paul Rand, American modernist and designer
This chapter presents a practical guide to modifying the shape of your custom Arduino de-
rivative, covering early design considerations that will drive the size and shape of the
board, tools for determining the board outline, and processes for designing and prototyping
a custom-shaped board using Eagle. Changing the shape of your circuit board becomes an
important process particularly if you're designing electronics to fit within a custom,
non-rectangular enclosure. Additionally, creating a shaped board is a useful technique for
showcasing the functionality and aesthetics of your design. This chapter is intended to help
designers think about modifying the Arduino board not only on the component-level but
also on the form level and ultimately to think outside of the Arduino box.
This guide will be most useful if you already have some familiarity with the Arduino
microcontroller platform (discussed in Chapter 11 ) and a general understanding of the
functional requirements of your design (discussed in Chapter 5 ) , including the types of
electronics you will need to consider (such as sensors, actuators, or other electronic com-
ponents). We also assume that you already have a schematic drawn for your board and have
working knowledge of board layout using Eagle. (Refer to online tutorials for designing a
circuit board in Eagle, as that skill is not covered in this topic.)
Shapes of an Arduino Derivative
Off-the-shelf Arduino boards come in many sizes, but not many shapes. Most are rectan-
gular, which leaves three options for those who want more control over the shape of their
physical computing projects. The first option is to house the off-the-shelf Arduino in a cus-
tom-shaped container, which often leads to boxy cases. The second choice is to separate
the form factor of embedded sensors and actuators from the microcontroller that controls
them—the iconic, messy Arduino board hidden from view with wires connecting it to the
more carefully crafted physical design. The third option is to design and manufacture your
own Arduino derivative, which provides the most control over the form of your board.
Designing your own Arduino derivative lets you optimize three interrelated parameters:
size, cost, and shape. For example, eliminating unused components from a commercial Ar-
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