Thank you for your interest in becoming a Compass reseller

© Kevin Pace PACE Classroom Robotics Kit (CRK)

“Classroom Robotics Kit”

A learning program designed for the classroom:

Personal

And

Classroom

Electronics

+3.3v

A

B

+3.3v

R1

R2

R3

R4

Q1


Robot Control Board (RCB) Assembly Plan

This section of the lab manual is designed to guide the user through each part of

circuit board construction. Be sure to follow the steps in the order they are provided.

These steps are organized from easiest to hardest with regard to assembly.

The assembly plan is organized as shown below;

Main Page with introduction information & photo 1 page

Circuit board photos illustrating part locations 1 page

Steps for installing parts one at a time 11 pages

Appendix with detailed instructions 1 page

You will need the following materials to get started on construction;

Soldering Iron

Soldering stand

Solder

Small Phillips screwdriver

Small flat head screwdriver

Robot Control Circuit Board

Electronics parts to be installed on the board



Step by step instructions:

Follow the instructions in the order they are provided. They have been organized to help

prevent solder errors. The parts are assembled in an easiest to most difficult order so that students

can gain better technique as they move to more difficult areas.

1. Locate the four 1k resistors (Brown Black, Red, Gold) R3 – R6. The resistors should be

installed with the brown stripe toward the top of the board. Use needle nose pliers to

carefully bend the legs to 90 degrees at the length established by the holes in the board.

Once the legs are bent, place the resistors in the holes

and push them down flat to the surface of the board.

With your hands, bend the legs back that have pushed

through the board so that the resistor will stay in place as

you turn the board over to solder the resistor. Next,

solder the resistor in place. Remember to use only the amount of solder to secure the

leads to the board. Clip the excess resistor lead flush with the top of the solder joint.

Repeat the process for each of the four resistors.

2. Locate the two 10k resistors (Brown, Black, Orange, Gold) R2, R7. R2 should be

installed with the brown stripe toward the top of the board, while R7 should be installed with

the brown lead toward the left side of the board.

Use needle nose pliers to carefully bend the legs to 90 degrees at the length established by

the holes in the board. Once the legs are bent, place the resistors in the holes and push

them down flat to the surface of the board. With your hands, bend the legs back that have

pushed through the board so that the resistor will stay in place as you turn the board over

to solder the resistor. Next, solder the resistor in place. Remember to use only the amount

of solder to secure the leads to the board. Clip the excess resistor lead flush with the top of

the solder joint. Repeat the process for each of the two resistors.



3. Locate the two 100 Ohm resistors (Brown, Black, Brown, Gold) R8, R9. The resistors

should be installed with the brown stripe toward the top of the board. Use needle nose

pliers to carefully bend the legs to 90 degrees at the length established by the holes in the

board. Once the legs are bent, place the

resistors in the holes and push them down flat

to the surface of the board. With your hands,

bend the legs back that have pushed through the

board so that the resistor will stay in place as you turn the board over to solder the resistor.

Next, solder the resistor in place. Remember to use only the amount of solder to secure

the leads to the board. Clip the excess resistor lead flush with the top of the solder joint.

Repeat the process for each of the two resistors.

4. Locate the strip of 22 gauge solid wire. The jumper wires will be the next part to install.

The jumper wires are marked on the board with JMP followed by a number. The wires

should be installed by creating a jumper wire from JMP1 to JMP 2, JMP 3 to JMP 4, JMP 5

to JMP 6 and JMP7 to JMP 8. In each installation, use wire cutters to cut a wire about a

half inch longer than the distance between the two holes.

Use wire strippers to strip ¼” of the insulation off of each end of

the wire. Use needle nose pliers to bend the two exposed

ends to 90 degrees. Press the stripped ends of the wire into the

holes and be sure the wire is laying FLAT to the board. If the wire is not flat, remove the

wire and strip a little more insulation off the end of the wire. Re-bend the wire lead and re-

install the wire. As you have done in the resistor installations, bend the wire leads back so

the wire will stay in place while you solder the leads.



5. Locate the diode (D1) The diode needs to be installed with the grey stripe facing the right

side of the board. Using needle nose pliers, bend the leads at 90 degrees at the length

established by the holes in the board. Press the diode

into the holes with the grey stripe to the right. Bend the

leads underneath the board to hold it in place and solder the diode leads. Clip the excess

wire leads against the top of the solder joint.

6. Locate the 470 Ohm resistor. (Yellow, Violet, Brown, Gold) R1. The 470 Ohm resistor

needs to be installed with the yellow lead facing the top of the board. Use needle nose

pliers to bend the leads at 90 degrees at the length

established by the holes in the board. Press the resistor

into the holes with the yellow stripe at the top. Bend the leads underneath the board to

hold it in place and solder the leads. Clip the excess wire against the top of the solder joint.

7. Locate the SPDT slide-switch (S1). Place the switch into the board with the slide-switch

facing the top of the board. If the holes are a little too small for the switch to press into

place, a 1/16 Drill bit can be used to drill the holes a little larger. The switch has larger than

normal leads. Be sure the switch is pressed into place

FLAT against the board. Use masking tape to tape the

switch down to the top of the board. The tape will hold the

switch in place as you turn it over to solder the leads.

Rotate the board over and solder the leads. These solder pads are a bit larger and may

require a little more solder than usual. Be sure that the switch leads are fully surrounded

by solder and secured to the solder pads. These leads DO NOT need to be snipped after

soldering.



8. Locate the green two pin power terminal (J1). Place the two pin power terminal leads into

the board with the two wire holes facing the TOP of the board.

Use masking tape to secure the part flat against the top of the board.

Carefully turn the board over and solder the two leads. Be sure

the leads are fully surrounded by solder and the terminal is

mounted FLAT to the board. These leads DO NOT need to snipped after soldering.

9. Locate the .1uF Disc Capacitors (C2, C8, C10) These capacitors have NO polarity (no

positive and negative terminal) so they can be installed with the

writing facing either direction. The legs should already be bent to be

easily placed into the holes on the board. Many of the markings are

very close together, so be sure that you are placing the capacitors in

the correct holes. Solder each part C2, C8 and C10 in place, pressing

the part down until it comfortably rests against the board. Do not

force the part down farther than it wants to go. Clip the excess leads against the top of the

soldered terminals.

10. Locate the 5 MHz crystal (Y1) The crystal has NO polarity and may be mounted in either

direction. Insert the crystal into the holes in the board and use

masking tape to secure it in place to the top of the board. Carefully

turn the board over and solder each lead. Clip the excess wire

leads flat against the top of the soldered terminals.



11. Locate the 1000uF Electrolytic Capacitors (C1, C7, C9). These Capacitors have a

POLARITY (A negative and positive terminal). They are generally marked in two different

ways. They have a grey stripe down the negative side with small – signs in the middle.

The negative terminal also has a shorter leg length

than the positive terminal. On the circuit board, you will

find a “+” sign notating the POSITIVE terminal of the

capacitor. Insert each capacitor into the markings

noted by a white circle on the board, observing polarity.

Bend the legs underneath the board to hold each capacitor in place. Before soldering, be

sure that each capacitor is FLAT against the board. These capacitors can typically get

broken easily if they don’t sit flat. Solder each capacitor in place and trim the excess wire

leads at the top of the solder junction on each.

12. Locate the Red, Yellow and Green LED’s (D2, D3, D4). Led’s also have a POLARITY.

Like capacitors, they will have a short leg that notates the negative terminal. They also

have a flat spot around the rim of the plastic case. If you

look carefully at the circuit board symbols used for D2 –

D4 you will see a flat side to the circle they are to be

mounted in. Mount each LED in the correct location,

noted by the names of the colors on the board. Bend the

legs underneath the board to hold them in place until soldering. LED’s should also mount

FLAT to the board to prevent easy breakage of the component. Snip the excess wire leads

at the top of the solder junction after soldering into place. The RED LED negative terminal

may be marked by a notch instead of a flat spot.



13. Locate the 10uF Tantalum Capacitors (C3 – C6). These capacitors also have a

POLARITY and must be installed correctly. If you look closely at the circuit board, you will

see a “+” sign to the left of each of the circular capacitor markings. This is the positive

terminal. If you look at the photo provided of the capacitor, you will see a small “+” sign on

the front. This will mean that each capacitor must have the writing facing

the TOP of the board when installed. ***CAUTION*** be sure to

observe this polarity because installing these capacitors backward

can cause them to explode from reverse voltage. Install each of the

capacitors with the writing facing the top of the board and place a piece of

masking tape over the four capacitors to hold them in place while rotating the board to

solder. Solder each leg of each capacitor being careful not to BRIDGE (connect) any two

terminals together by solder. A bridged solder joint can cause a circuit malfunction.

14. Locate the 5 volt regulator (U1 – LM1084). The regulator mounts flat to the board with a

heat sink behind it. The two parts will be screwed in place with a ¼” X 4/40 machine screw

and nut. The picture shows the two parts assembled together with the machine screw and

in position on the circuit board. The head

of the screw should be on the bottom of the

circuit board with the nut on the top. The heat

sink helps dissipate excess heat that builds

up as the regulator delivers more current to devices, such as motors, that get connected to

the board. Notice the unique position of each leg on the regulator. Use needle nose pliers

to bend the leads of the regulator and pay close attention to the middle leg that gets bent in

a different location than the other two legs. (Continued next page)



Bend the legs to position, place the heat sink behind the regulator so that the holes line up

and then bolt the two parts in place on the board. Solder the leads and clip the excess

leads.

15. Locate the 3.3 volt regulator (U2 - LM1085). The regulator mounts flat to the board with a

heat sink behind it. The two parts will be screwed in place with a ¼” X 4/40 machine screw

and nut. The picture shows the two parts assembled together with the machine screw and

in position on the circuit board. The head

of the screw should be on the bottom

of the circuit board with the nut on the top.

The heat sink helps dissipate excess

heat that builds up as the regulator delivers more current to devices, such as motors, that

get connected to the board. Notice the unique position of each leg on the regulator. Use

needle nose pliers to bend the leads of the regulator and pay close attention to the middle

leg that gets bent in a different location than the other two legs. Bend the legs to position,

place the heat sink behind the regulator so that the holes line up and then bolt the two parts

in place on the board. Solder the parts and clip the excess leads.

16. Locate the 40 pin Socket (U3). This is the first of the Integrated Circuit (IC) sockets that

have to be installed. Each of the pins on the IC sockets must be soldered separately with

no bridging (connecting) of pins on

either side of each soldered terminal. Place

the socket into the holes and use masking

tape to secure the socket into place. Be sure the socket is FLAT to the board. Carefully

flip the board over. I would suggest that you start at one end of the socket and solder the

pins one after the other moving in one direction. (Continued next page)



Since I am right handed, I start on the uppermost right corner and work my way to the left,

soldering each pin as I go. This allows me to feed the solder on the left side of each pin,

since I hold the soldering iron with my right hand. Solder each pin being careful not to

bridge them together. These leads DO NOT need to be cut.

17. Locate the 16 pin socket (U6). Place the socket into the holes marked on the board and

use masking tape to secure it in place. Be sure the socket is mounted

FLAT to the board and carefully flip the board over to solder the pins.

As I stated previously, be sure to solder each pin separately so that

the pins are not bridged together. These pins DO NOT need to snipped after soldering.

18. Locate the 20 pin socket (U7). Place the socket into the holes marked on the board and

use masking tape to secure it in place. Be sure the socket is

mounted FLAT to the board and carefully flip the board over

to solder the pins. Be sure to solder each pin separately so

that the pins are not bridged together. These pins DO NOT need to be snipped after

soldering.

19. Locate the 8 pin socket (U4). Place the socket into the holes marked on the board and use

masking tape to secure it in place. Be sure the socket is mounted

FLAT to the board and carefully flip the board over to solder the

pins. Solder each pin separately so that the pins are not bridged

together. These pins DO NOT need to snipped after soldering.



20. Locate the male header pin strips (J2 – J8). The header pins are to be installed with the

short side pressed into the board and the long side standing up. Each of the strips will

need to be snapped to the correct length for installation. Look closely at the strips and you

will see a snap line between each pin.

We will start with J2 which is an 8 pin

strip. Hold a long strip in your hand

and using needle nose pliers, place

the jaws of the pliers on the last of the 8 pins in the strip you want to snap off. Gently give

a twist with the pliers to snap the header pins apart. Once you do this a few times, it will be

a snap. As you place each section in the socket, use masking tape to secure it in place.

Pay close attention to the headers mounting in a straight up and down position. They have

a tendency to lay to one side or the other and get soldered in a leaning position. Solder

each pin separately without bridging terminals together. J7 and J8 require three side by

side rows of pins. Take your time with these and be sure they do NOT bridge together.

***CAUTION*** Bridging these terminals could cause a SHORT CIRCUIT and damage the

board if not corrected before power up!

21. Locate the two XBEE socket strips (U5). These sockets are the MOST difficult to solder

on the circuit board due to their pin spacing. Once again, all the pins must be soldered

separately with NO bridging. Be careful to use only

a small amount of solder on each of these pins. If you

happen to bridge pins together, you can clean your

soldering iron tip and carefully drag the tip between the pins to remove the solder, or use a

de-soldering tool if you have one. (Continued next page)



A tip which is clean and tinned will be very handy during this part of the construction. Place

each socket into the holes provided and use masking tape to secure them in place. Solder

each socket in place. Double check for bridges!

22. Locate the 4/40 X ½” standoffs and the 4/40 X ¼” machine screws. Around the perimeter

of the regulators you will see a large square box. At each corner of the box there is a hole.

These are the standoff mounting holes. Place

a ¼” 4/40 machine screw through the

bottom of the board and rotate the standoff

onto the threads until its snug. Continue the same installation until all four standoffs are

installed. These will be a platform for the fan to mount to the board.

23. Locate the 12v Fan (J9) and the 4/40 X 1” machine screws. Place the fan on top of the

standoffs with the label side facing up. We want air to be drawn under the fan across the

heat sinks and regulators and pushed

out the front (top) of the fan. Place the 1”

machine screws into each hole and use a

screwdriver to get each screw started, but

not fully tightened down. Once all the

screws are started, tighten each one down

one after the other. Do not over-tighten the screws, but they should be snug. Hold the

black and red wire leads straight down and use a pair of wire cutters to cut the wires

approximately ¼” BEYOND the bottom of the board. In other words, we want the wires to

extend beyond the holes marked J9 so that we can strip ¼” of insulation off of each wire

and solder them in place. (Continued next page)



The objective is to have the insulation touching the top of the board after the wires are

soldered so that no bare wire is exposed. Once the wires are cut to length (1/4” beyond the

bottom of the circuit board) use wire strippers to strip ¼” of the insulation off of each wire.

Holding ONLY the RED wire in your hand, twist the small stranded wires together and use

a soldering iron to coat the small wires with a thin bead of solder. (We call this process

“TINNING” a wire). Once the red wire is tinned, all the little wires should stay together as

you push them through the circuit board to solder them in place. Be sure the red insulation

pulls down FLAT to the circuit board and leaves no bare wire exposed. Now, Holding ONLY

the BLACK wire in your hand, twist the small stranded wires together and use a soldering

iron to “TIN” the wires. Now that all the little black wires are together, carefully push the

wire through the board and solder the wire in place. Be sure the BLACK insulation pulls

down FLAT to the board and leaves no bare wires exposed.

***CAUTION*** since these leads are very close together, just ONE small wire from the red

or black fan lead touching one another can cause a short to the power supply and damage

the circuit. Double check to be sure that there are no small wires sticking out from under

the red or black insulation on the fan terminals.

At this point, ALL the circuit board parts should be soldered into place. Read through the

final testing steps listed next, before plugging ANY integrated circuits into place. Going

through these steps will also help you learn troubleshooting tips for circuit board

construction. This will be a help in your next circuit board project!

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Compass reseller

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