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Finally made by first PCB board

Like all electronics projects, the skill of "PCB making" is of paramount consequence. After doing my research, I finally assembled the ingredients to develop a servo control PCB.

The Goal:
I wanted the UAV to have be capability of Manual or Autopilot Mode while in flight as a safety option. This was to be controlled by the Control Station (RC transmitter for now) using a switch.

The Parts:

  1. Single sided PCB board
  2. PCB toner transfer paper (I tried using HP Photosmart paper - DIDN'T WORK)
  3. Clothing Iron - Temperature set on "Medium"
  4. Wooden cutting board (Just beg the wife!)
  5. Ferric Chloride Solution (Here in SA try Mantech or RS Online
  6. Drill Machine
  7. Drill bits (0.6mm or 0.8mm). I used 0.8mm. 
  8. Plastic gloves (Please wife!)
  9. Plastic Container (Any container will do as long as it's plastic).
So as the point 2 say, I tried using HP Photosmart paper but it failed dismally. The glossy side of the paper melted and got stuck to the copper clad and it was a pain to get it off. I even tried to silicon baking paper between the iron and the glossy paper and still a no show.

So I decided to revert to the popular saying "the wheel has already been invented" slogan and buy a PCB toner transfer paper. And guess what! It worked perfectly FIRST TIME round! Although it's not exactly cheap paper it did the job. NEXT: Assembly and Testing


So After PCB assembly and testing the servo control board was put through it paces using a testbed Arduino script and I'm glad to say... IT WORKS!



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