Designing A Circuit As A Complete Newbie

Hi Johanna,

Can you specify what task your robot needs to perform ??

On 22/02/2014 7:13 a.m., Dallis King wrote:

I'm building a robot in my class and we're required to design our own

personalized circuit board for it, however I really don't understand

anything about this, so if you could help me in the simplest terms that

would be amazing. Basically, my robot is going to have to be hooked up

to four separate computer fans that I can control independently. I guess

I was just wondering how I start with this? -.- I'm so lost I don't even

know how to ask a proper question...

 

I have a blank schematic and I just want to make a circuit that can run

four fans. Can someone help me? I really have no idea what I'm doing.

 

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This forum is for the support of the use of EagleCad software and not

for education on electronic design. You would be best to Google for the

many sites that cater for robotics development if you are starting from

nothing.

That said, maybe you have been given the circuit you have to work with

and the exercise is to create the circuit board from the schematic you

have been provided with, you haven't said.

Is the use of Eagle the required approach for the class. Talk to your

class mates and tutor about the approaches they are taking.

Whatever the case, you need to start into one of the many tutorials

there are for Eagle or the alternate PCB CAD programs on the net.

YouTube videos will give you an appreciation of how a program works

most quickly, then after that you should read and perform the exercises

in written tutorials as only then will you learn and remember how to use

the chosen CAD program.

All the best

Warren

You're kind of starting at the wrong end looking at a blank schematic.

First, you need to do some research and information gathering.  You need to

determine what it takes to control the fans (what circuit do you need).  Is

the controller for the fans smart or just what kind of information does it

need to process to figure out what to do with the fans - I would assume the

4 fans are supposed to be controlled some how - what controls them? is

there a remote control or? that determines what the fans do.  Once you have

determined the requirements for the project, then you come up with a block

diagram of how it all fits together.  Next come up with sketches of what

the actual control for the fan needs to be (simple transistor driven by a

little processor (PIC for example)) or just what?  Leaping into drawing a

schematic before you have worked out the requirements is like writing code

before you have figured out what you want to do.  Once you have that nailed

down, then you can work on putting a schematic into Eagle or whatever, but

first you need to come up with the requirements and do the details.  Yeah,

I know, not as much fun as jumping into the schematic, but it really is the

right way to go.

mikey

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