Electronic Products for Creative Minds
This instructable “How to use an LED Array Module” uses a variation of the CircuitGizmo Engineering Graph Paper that has the pin-out for the ATmega644.
This version can be downloaded here:
https://www.circuitgizmos.com/files/enggraphmega644.pdf
This paper can be downloaded here:
I have my way of taking notes. I’ve tried to find paper that would suit my needs. Notebook paper is a no-go. What? Just a bunch of lines? No. Regular green engineering paper comes pretty close, but I always end up modifying each and every page by hand.
So I broke down and made my own. With a color printer (I have a color laser) I can make my own faint blue graph paper. I can print them as I need them.
My Project Paper has small boxes to fill in for Project name, for the Title of the page (where you can put a specific label for that page), a box for the Date, as well as boxes for tracking this page among many. On the bottom is a box for the Engineer Signature and for a Witness Signature.
The graph paper part of this Project Paper is used like other engineering paper – for notes, charts, drawings, schematics, etc.
The Project Paper also incorporates a to-do list. A to-do item can be noted alongside one of the boxes on the left side of the page. Listed along the left edge is the marking system that I use. A blank box, perhaps obviously, is a to-do that is not done. A check mark in the box is a done item. An “X” in the box is a to-do item that has been canceled – it doesn’t need to be done. A “+” in the box indicates that the task noted on this page has been moved to another later page.
As a little bonus the right side of the page can be used as a ruler.
Here is the Project Paper as a PDF file: Project Paper
Happy documenting. 😛
I use a lot of the protoboards like the one sold here at CircuitGizmos for developing prototypes of all sorts of circuits.
Too often, though, the circuits are created but the effort isn’t documented. Often times the prototype is considered for reuse or modification later, but then it has to be reverse-engineered. With document templates that have a diagram of the circuit card on them I can print out a page and mark up that page as I build the prototype.
The template pages have the front and back of several PCB boards that are a grid of holes with “donut” copper on them. Here is the front image from the board sold here at CircuitGizmos:
And the back side:
The template files cover seven of the boards that I use for creating prototypes. I print the .PDF file, three-hole-punch the page, and clip it into a binder where I collect my prototype documents. I can mark up the page to show where I’ve placed components and connectors. There is room on the page for notes. The bottom of the template pages contain a title block for documenting the project.
Here are the .PDF pages:
board1template.pdf
board2template.pdf
board3template.pdf
board4template.pdf
board5template.pdf
board6template.pdf
board7template.pdf