These Bus Pirate v5 prototypes were hand-assembled by a random PCBA shop on Taobao. Assembly took two days and cost 80RMB (~$12) for each board, we provided the PCBs and components. Normally we relish a prototype build because it’s a source of so many design improvements, but this was an emergency.
It’s super nifty to send away parts and get back assembled boards a few days later. If the orientation of every part is really obvious on the PCB silkscreen then the assembler can probably handle the build without any questions. The boards all work perfectly, and outsourcing the build really did keep the project moving at a critical moment.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
