This video tutorial explains what solderless breadboards are and what they are used for. This is a necessary tool not only for beginners but also for experienced users of the Arduino platform.
Buy prototyping boards
You can buy solderless breadboards in a radio parts store, on a radio market or an online store. But the most profitable option is, of course, Aliexpress. There is a huge selection of breadboards out there,
as well as not high prices. But you need to be careful and buy only from reliable sellers. Below are the links to aliexpress:
Breadboard
Solderless breadboards are very handy for teaching Arduino and prototyping your projects. Thanks to these boards, you can assemble quite complex circuits without even picking up a soldering iron. You just insert the schematic elements into the holes of the breadboard and everything works. Simple projects can be done even without wires. This greatly speeds up the learning or prototyping process of your device.
You can assemble one project, then disassemble and assemble another. You do not need a soldering iron and consumables for this. Also, before making a full-fledged device, it is better to assemble its breadboard on a solderless breadboard. This can reveal flaws in the schema. It will also help write the firmware, since you can use the LEDs for debugging. Only after you assemble the prototype, write the firmware and make sure that everything works as you intended, you can assemble the final version of your device.
How to use a breadboard
Very simple! The main thing to remember is how the holes of the breadboard are connected. Everything is simple and clear there. There are horizontal power lines along the edges, usually marked in blue and red for convenience. And in the middle there are many vertically connected lines of 5 points. The image below shows the breadboard pinout.
If the first part of the article focuses on an overview of breadboards and a description of their design, now we will consider some useful subtleties and nuances that you need to know when working with such breadboards.
If the instructions for the solderless breadboard say that the diameter of the wire inserted into the contacts is 0.4 - 0.7 mm, then you should not try to insert the leads of parts that are thicker than the specified value. This will lead to loosening and wear of the contacts. If it becomes necessary to use such parts, then it is better to solder wires of the specified diameter to the thick leads, or simply wind them. Naturally, the wire should be free of insulation.
Solderless breadboards are sold in two configurations: with and without jumpers. In the first version, the board turns out to be a little more expensive, but it doesn't matter at all if you managed to buy a separate board - you can always adapt something.
Patch wires, of course, are sold separately, but if there is no desire or opportunity to buy them, then the VSWR 4 * 0.4 wire used for installation is quite suitable.
Such a wire contains 4 insulated conductors with a diameter of just 0.4 mm. The insulation from the wire can be easily removed with side cutters or a knife, and the conductors themselves are not varnished.
If it is necessary to prototype a complex device, it is better to assemble its separate functionally completed parts on separate prototyping boards of small dimensions, after which the entire structure can be assembled from the resulting nodes.
Sometimes it happens that one device has not yet been assembled, but for some reason it is urgently required to assemble another, completely new. And this is where it starts! It is necessary to disassemble the assembled, not yet debugged circuit, which later may have to be assembled again. But the only irreplaceable resource is the time that is wasted on these meaningless assemblies - disassembly. Therefore, it is better not to skimp, but to purchase several prototyping boards, things will go faster.
Do not forget that prototyping boards are designed for low-current equipment - and. Therefore, in no case is it permissible to supply them with a mains voltage of 220 V. This can lead to overheating of the contacts and breakdown of insulation, and what will happen after that is probably known to everyone.
But even in transistors and microcircuits, a short circuit can occur, which will cause overheating of these elements, lead to heating of the contacts and melting of the plastic base of the board. Therefore, when you turn on the circuit for the first time, it is advisable to measure the current consumption or at least control the temperature of all elements with your finger.
The general rule of thumb isn't just breadboards. The components that are not subject to static electricity are installed first:, and.
On the prototype board, in addition to the parts, connecting wires are also installed. It is best to install the connecting wires with tweezers or small pliers. With the same tools, carry out the dismantling of wires.
As in all similar cases, check the board for correct installation, for the absence of short circuits or non-contacts. Unused pins of microcircuits should not be left "hanging in the air", but connected either to a common wire or to a power bus. Free inputs will lead to the appearance of such elements at the outputs, simply noise, which will propagate throughout the circuit and its adjustment will become much more problematic.
Probably, here it should be noted that the breadboards have a large mounting capacity due to long connecting wires, as well as a lot of contacts. Therefore, too high-frequency circuits on such boards will work poorly, or maybe not at all.
To avoid the influence of long conductors, it is advisable to shunt the microcircuit power leads with ceramic capacitors of small capacity, as is done on printed circuit boards.
Checking the correct installation, you can use "oak" TTL microcircuits, which are practically insensitive to static. You can, of course, do without them, but it is not very convenient to push the multimeter probes into the holes on the board, it is more convenient to touch the legs of the microcircuits. After completion of the check and elimination of inaccuracies, the "training" microcircuits should be replaced with real ones.
When using CMOS microcircuits for static protection, it is highly desirable to use an anti-static grounding strap. If these are not available, we recommend using a wire scrubber to wash the pans. Such a washcloth has the shape of a ring where you can stick your hand. Using a flexible wire, connect to ground through a resistor with a resistance of no more than 1MΩ.
After checking the circuit, you can insert the mentioned CMOS microcircuits into the board. When adjusting the circuit, replacing parts, or making changes, it is better not to remove the protective antistatic wrist strap.
This is a very simple use case. Of course, there are programs that help to create circuits and simulate devices and sometimes they greatly outperform solderless boards. Since you yourself do whatever is necessary. But even here there are small drawbacks, since in practice the parameters may differ slightly from the initial data for various reasons and you can be sure only when the device is ready. Therefore, many advise to first simulate the device on a computer, then assemble it on a solderless breadboard, and then send it to production. Therefore, if you are a beginner specialist or have already achieved certain skills in the modeling and production of electronic devices, you can appreciate it and have it always at hand as a necessary tool. She will be able to turn a difficult process into a rather easy and interesting one, as well as speed up the creation of your invention.
Development boards can be assembled for any device. They are popular with aspiring electronics engineers and experienced craftsmen. They are assembled with soldering and without soldering. The former are durable and can be used as a main board, while the latter are more convenient in assembly due to the elimination of soldering work.
To start the production of any product, it is necessary to make its layout, and then, after assessing the performance of the product and its other parameters, proceed to the production of a series. In this case, you save money and time. But prototypes are made not only in production, they are also widely used in electronics and, first of all, this is associated with the release of prototypes.
Let's say you are about to make a new electronic device. Previously, the prototype of the breadboard was in the form of a rectangle made of cardboard, in which holes were made and radioelements were inserted there, connecting to each other, and then its work was checked. If the device was functioning normally, then the production of the main board began using the appropriate materials. Now the task is somewhat simplified - prototypes with already prepared holes and tracks are actively sold on the market, which can be found in specialized stores, for example, here in this http://makerplus.ru/, where you can choose a suitable option.
What development boards are there
Breadboards are made without soldering and with soldering. The solderless design features a multi-hole plastic housing with pin connectors. Parts are mounted in them. The holes are designed for wires with a diameter of 0.7 mm. The distance between them is 2.54 mm, this is enough to install the transistor and other elements.
Power lanes are indicated by blue and red lines. The number of points for connectors can vary from 100 to 2500 pieces. The principle of working with such a board is simple. You mount electronic elements in the necessary holes and connect them with ordinary wires, or buy specially prepared jumper wires. If the circuit is assembled incorrectly, then you disassemble it and mount it again.
Breadboard with solder
Such a board differs from the above considered option in that the elements installed in the case can be soldered. In this case, you can use it not only as a model, but also as a real product. True, then the board will be somewhat larger. In addition, brazed structures have a lower price.
Soldered boards, which, by the way, can be purchased on the website of the online store http://makerplus.ru/category/breadboard, have holes for wires up to 0.9 mm in diameter and are located in one inch increments (2.54 mm). On one side of the structure, there are straight insulated foil lines, and on the other, radioelements and jumpers are installed.
- Cut the board straight away to the desired size. For this, ordinary scissors, a cutter, a hacksaw are suitable. You can even just break it through the holes, but then clean out the edges.
- If you are not going to use the board right now, then do not touch the foil areas with your hands again. Hands can be wet, which will corrode the surface and impair contact.
- If oxides or impurities do occur, clean them off with zero sandpaper or a regular eraser.
- Radioelements are installed from the side where there are no foil strips. The leads are pushed into the holes and sealed from the back.
- The blue color of the conductive paths indicates the "minus" of the circuit, the red "plus", and green is used at your discretion. The tracks are marked on the same side as the foil.
- The most important positioning of parts is in the vertical position, as in this case, an error will lead to an incorrectly assembled chain.
Note that both types of breadboards may have slots on the sides. This is necessary for those who are assembling a large device consisting of several modules. The slots allow you to assemble one large board from several small ones.
Spawned holivar in the comments. Many supporters of Arduina, according to them, just want to collect something like blinking LEDs in order to diversify their leisure time and play. At the same time, they do not want to bother with etching boards and soldering. As one of the alternatives, the comrade mentioned the "Expert" designer, but its capabilities are limited by the set of parts included in the kit, and the designer is still for children. I want to offer another alternative - the so-called Breadboard, a breadboard for mounting without soldering.
Careful, there are a lot of pictures.
What is it and what it is eaten with
The main purpose of such a board is to design and debug prototypes of various devices. This device consists of holes-jacks with a pitch of 2.54 mm (0.1 inches), it is with this (or a multiple of it) that the terminals are located on most modern radio components (SMD does not count). Breadboards come in a variety of sizes, but most of the time they are made up of these same blocks:The socket wiring diagram is shown in the right figure: five holes on each side, in each of the rows (in this case 30) are electrically connected to each other. On the left and right there are two power lines: here all the holes in the column are connected to each other. The slot in the middle is designed for installation and easy removal of microcircuits in DIP-cases. To assemble the circuit, radio components and jumpers are inserted into the holes, since I got the board without factory jumpers - I made them from metal paper clips, and small ones (for connecting adjacent nests) from staple staples.
It may seem that the larger the board, the greater its functionality, this is not entirely true. There is a very small chance that someone (especially a beginner) will assemble a device that will occupy all segments of the board, here are several devices at the same time - yes. For example, here I assembled an electronic ignition on a microcontroller, a multivibrator on transistors and a frequency generator for an LC meter: 
So what can you do about it?
To justify the title of the article, I will give several devices. Description of what and where to insert will be on the images.Unreleased details
In order to assemble one of the circuits described below, you will need a breadboard itself and a set of jumpers. In addition, it is desirable to have a suitable power source, in the simplest case - a battery (s); for the convenience of its (their) connection, it is recommended to use a special container. You can also use a power supply, but in this case you need to be careful and try not to burn anything, since a power supply is much more expensive than batteries. The rest of the details will be given in the description of the circuit itself.
LED connection
One of the simplest designs. The schematic diagrams are depicted as follows:
Of the parts you will need: a low-power LED, any 300Ω-1kΩ resistor and a 4.5-5V power supply. In my case, a powerful Soviet resistor (the first one that came to hand) at 430 Ohm (as evidenced by the K43 inscription on the resistor itself), and as a power source - 3 finger (AA) batteries in a container: total 1.5V * 3 = 4, 5B.
On the board, it looks like this:
The batteries are connected to the red (+) and black (-) terminals from which jumpers extend to the power lines. Then a resistor is connected from the minus line to sockets No. 18, and on the other hand, an LED is connected to the same sockets by a cathode (short leg). The anode of the LED is connected to the positive line. I will not go into the principle of the scheme and explain Ohm's law - if you just want to play around, then this is not necessary, but if it is still interesting, then you can.
Linear voltage regulator
Maybe this is a rather abrupt transition - from LEDs to microcircuits, but in terms of implementation, I do not see any difficulties.So, there is such a microcircuit LM7805 (or just 7805), any voltage from 7.5V to 25V is supplied to it, and we get 5V at the output. There are others, for example, the 7812 - 12V microcircuit. Here is her wiring diagram:
Capacitors are used to stabilize the voltage and can be omitted if desired. This is how it looks in real life:
And close-up:
The numbering of the pins of the microcircuit goes from left to right, if you look at it from the side of the marking. In the photo, the numbering of the microcircuit pins coincides with the numbering of the bradboard connectors. The red terminal (+) is connected to the 1st leg of the microcircuit - input. The black terminal (-) is directly connected to the negative supply line. The middle leg of the microcircuit (Common, GND) is also connected to the minus line, and the 3rd leg (Output) to the plus line. Now, if you apply 12V to the terminals, there should be 5V on the power lines. If you don't have a 12V power supply, you can take a 9V Krona battery and connect it through the special connector shown in the photo above. I used a 12V power supply:
Regardless of the value of the input voltage, if it lies within the above limits, the output voltage will be 5V:
Finally, let's add capacitors so that everything is according to the rules:
Logic pulse generator
And now an example of using a different microcircuit, and not in its most standard application. A 74HC00 or 74HCT00 microcircuit is used, depending on the manufacturer, different letters may appear before and after the name. Domestic analogue - K155LA3. Inside this microcircuit there are 4 logical elements "AND-NOT" (eng. "NAND"), each of the elements has two inputs, by closing them together we get the element "NOT". But in this case, the logic gates will be used in "analog mode". The generator circuit is as follows:
Elements DA1.1 and DA1.2 generate a signal, and DA1.3 and DA1.4 form clear rectangles. The generator frequency is determined by the capacitor and resistor ratings and is calculated by the formula: f = 1 / (2RC). We connect any speaker to the generator output. If we take a 5.6k resistor and a 33nF capacitor, we get about 2.7kHz - a kind of squeaky sound. This is how it looks:
The power lines on the top in the photo are connected to 5V from the previously assembled voltage stabilizer. For ease of assembly, I will give a verbal description of the connections. The left half of the segment (bottom in the photo):
The capacitor is installed in slots # 1 and # 6;
Resistor - # 1 and # 5;
# 1 and # 2;
# 3 and # 4;
# 4 and # 5;
# 2 and # 3;
No. 3 and No. 7;
No. 5 and No. 6;
No. 1 and "plus" food;
No. 4 and "plus" dynamics;
Besides:
the microcircuit is installed as in the photo - the first leg in the first connector of the left half. The first leg of the microcircuit can be identified by the so-called key - a circle (as in the photo) or a semicircular cutout at the end. The rest of the IC legs in DIP cases are numbered counterclockwise.
If everything is assembled correctly, the speaker should beep when power is applied. By changing the resistor and capacitor values, you can follow the frequency changes, but with a very high resistance and / or too small capacitance, the circuit will not work.
Now let's change the resistor value to 180kOhm, and the capacitor to 1uF - we get a clicking-ticking sound. Let's replace the speaker with an LED by connecting the anode (long leg) to connector 4 of the right rugs, and the cathode through a 300Ohm-1kOhm resistor to the power supply minus, we get a blinking LED that looks like this:
And now let's add one more generator of the same so that we get the following scheme:
The generator on DA1 generates a low-frequency signal ~ 3Hz, DA2.1 - DA2.3 - high-frequency ~ 2.7kHz, DA2.4 is a modulator that mixes them. This is how the construction should turn out:
Description of connections:
The left half of the segment (bottom in the photo):
Capacitor C1 is installed in slots # 1 and # 6;
Condenser C2 - # 11 and # 16;
Resistor R1 - # 1 and # 5;
Resistor R2 - # 11 and # 15;
Jumpers are installed between the following slots:
# 1 and # 2;
# 3 and # 4;
# 4 and # 5;
No. 11 and No. 12;
No. 13 and No. 14;
No. 14 and No. 15;
No. 7 and negative power line.
No. 17 and a negative power line.
The right half of the segment (top in the photo):
jumpers are installed between the following slots:
# 2 and # 3;
No. 3 and No. 7;
No. 5 and No. 6;
# 4 and # 15;
No. 12 and No. 13;
No. 12 (13) and No. 17;
No. 1 and "plus" food;
No. 11 and "plus" food;
No. 14 and "plus" dynamics;
Besides:
jumpers between connectors No. 6 of the left and right halves;
jumpers between connectors No. 16 of the left and right halves;
- between the left and right minus lines;
- between power supply minus and "-" dynamics;
the DA1 microcircuit is installed in the same way as in the previous case - the first leg in the first connector of the left half. The second microcircuit - the first leg into the connector # 11.
If done correctly, when power is applied, the speaker will start to emit three peaks every second. If you connect the LED to the same connectors (in parallel), observing the polarity, you get such a device that sounds like cool electronic gizmos from no less cool action movies:
Transistor multivibrator
This scheme is rather a tribute to traditions, since in the old days almost every novice radio amateur collected a similar one.
In order to assemble a similar one, you will need 2 BC547 transistors, 2 resistors of 1.2kOhm, 2 resistors of 310Ohm, 2 electrolytic capacitors of 22μF and two LEDs. Capacities and resistances do not have to be observed exactly, but it is desirable that the circuit has two identical ratings.
On the board, the device looks like this:
The transistor pinout is as follows:
B (B) -base, C (K) -collector, E (E) -emitter.
For capacitors, the negative output is signed on the case (in Soviet capacitors, it was signed "+").
Description of connections
The entire circuit is assembled on one (left) half of the segment.
Resistor R1 - # 11 and "+";
resistor R2 - # 19 and "+";
resistor R3 - # 9 and # 3;
resistor R4 - # 21 and # 25;
transistor T2 - emitter - No. 7, base - No. 8, collector - No. 9;
transistor T1 - emitter - # 23, base - # 22, collector - # 21;
capacitor C1 - minus - No. 11, plus - No. 9;
capacitor C2 - minus - No. 19, plus - No. 21;
light-emitting diode LED1 - cathode-№3, anode - "+";
light-emitting diode LED1 - cathode-25, anode - "+";
jumpers:
№8 - №19;
№11 - №22;
№7 - "-";
№23 - "-";
When a voltage of 4.5-12V is applied to the power line, it should look something like this:
Finally
First of all, the article is aimed at those who want to "play", so I did not give descriptions of the principles of operation of circuits, physical laws, etc. If anyone asks the question "why does it blink?" - on the Internet you can find heaps of explanations with animations and other beauties. Some might argue that a bradboard is not suitable for complex layouts, but what about this:
and there are even more terrible constructions. Regarding the possible bad contact - when using parts with normal legs, the probability of bad contact is very small, this happened to me only a couple of times. In general, such boards have already surfaced here several times, but as part of a device built on Arduino. To be honest, I don't understand a construct like this:
Why do you need Arduino at all, if you can take a programmer, flash a controller in a DIP-case with it and install it into a board, getting a cheaper, more compact and portable device.
Yes, it is impossible to collect some analog circuits on the breadboard that are sensitive to the resistance and topology of conductors, but they do not come across so often, especially among beginners. But for digital circuits, there are almost no restrictions here.
