DAMNED Project Assembly

Confirm you have everything on the bill of materials (BOM).

In addition to these parts you will need the items you assembled during the previous Design Assignments:

Populated PCB

3D printed pieces including the shell front, shell back, and motor arm

Laser cut pieces including the LED ring base, ring mount bottom, ring mount top

Feather and USB cable

Locate the small 3 socket header in your parts kit. This socket will mount on the bottom side of the PCB and be soldered on the top side.

Insert the socket on the bottom side of the PCB at location J9. Hold it in place with some blue tape and make sure that it sits flush against the PCB surface.

Flip the board over and carefully solder the three connections. Use caution - these three pins are spaced close together and it is easy to bridge the solder. Ask for help if you cannot solder the pins without bridging.

When you're finished the solder joints should look similar to the last photo here.

This part can be difficult. Take your time and be patient.

Locate the three gold pogo pins and the pieces you laser cut in DA7. Lay the motor mount base down so that the text is on the bottom face. Stack one of the other two laser cut pieces below the base. It does not matter which piece, you just want to make a platform of the correct height.

Insert the three pogo pins into the holes highlighted here. Maintain the same rotation as shown in the second image. The skinny end of the pogo pins should be pointing up towards you.

Image three shows a profile view of the properly inserted pogo pins.

Be careful! The ends of these pins are delicate and can bend if too much force is applied. See Matt if you need to replace one.

Lay your PCB on top of the three pogo pins. Maintain the same rotation as shown in the first image. The skinny ends of the pins should just barely stick out of the holes in the PCB.

You should solder all three pins in place. If you have difficulty getting all three pins to line up at once, feel free to just insert one pin at a time and leave the others out. Then move on to inserting and soldering the next pin.

It can be helpful to apply downward pressue with your hand while soldering. This will compress the spring in the pogo pin and ensure that the end of the pin is protruding from the PCB hole enough to be soldered.

Use the soldering iron to heat both the pad and the pin lead. Make sure to cover both items with solder so you form good electrical connection.

Be careful when soldering the connection near the 12 pin socket header and C1. It is easy to accidentally bump the black plastic socket and melt it.

When you are done, all three pins should look similar to the example shown here.

Your board will not have the three black plastic edge connectors on the bottom of the PCB as the example shown here does. You can safely ignore these headers.

Locate the following:

black plastic spacers (quantity 3)

M3x18 bolts (quantity 3)

M3 washers (quantity3)

motor mount base (laser cut)

Align the black plastic spacers over with the three largest holes along the back of the motor mount base. Place the washers on the bolts.

Place your PCB (front side facing up towards you) so that the pogo pins sit inside of the three holes highlighted here.

Locate the remaining two laser cut pieces. Place the piece with the "ECEG 201" label on top of the other piece.

Insert the three bolts + washers through the three large holes.

Carefully flip the ring assembly + bolts over so that the threaded bolt ends are facing up.

Carefully lower the PCB + motor mount base assembly on top of the inverted ring assembly. The three bolt ends should protrude through the three corresponding holes in the PCB.

Be careful not to disturb any of the black plastic spacers. The bolts must pass through the spacers. If any of the spacers move and the bolts are not passing through them, go back and correct the alignment.

Locate the three M3 nuts.

Loosely thread the nuts onto the bolts. Then use a pair of needle nose pliers to hold the nuts in place while using the supplied M2.5 hex wrench to tighten the three bolts.

When you are done view the assembly from the front. Confirm the following:

all three pogo pins are visible in the holes labeled IN, G, PWR.

The pogo pins should protrude slightly from the holes (see photo in next step)

the Hall effect sensor socket should be visible and centered in the small rectangular hole

all three M3 bolts have black plastic spacers separating the PCB from the motor mount base

Closely inspect the holes where the pogo pins protrude from the motor mount base. Confirm that you can feel a little bit of the pin protruding from each hole.

Use a small flat blade screwdriver or other tool to gently push down on each pin and confirm that you feel the spring engage. When you release the pin it should return to its normal position, slightly elevated above the wooden base.

Locate the four M2 bolts, four M4 washers, and stepper motor.

Place a washer on each of the four bolts.

Insert the motor shaft through the circular hole in the wooden motor mount base. Line up the four holes in the face of the motor with the four small holes surrounding the large motor face hole.

Make sure the white plastic wire housing of the motor faces down as shown here.

Thread the four M2 bolts into the four holes in the motor mount base from the front and secure the motor by using the M1.5 hex wrench to tighten the four bolts.

Use the 4 pin connector on the end of the stepper motor to connect to the shrouded J12 on the board. Pay attention to the key in the connector and line it up properly with the slot in the board socket. The connection only works one way.

Carefully place the Feather board on top of the mounting headers on the PCB. Be careful to line all of the pins up properly. Gently push down until the board is fully mounted on the PCB. Failure to line up pins can cause them to bend and break.

Locate the Hall effect sensor in your parts kit, as well as the larger of the two 3D printed parts. This part is a jig to help ensure the proper bend in the Hall sensor legs.

Place the jig on a flat surface and insert the Hall sensor so that the face with writing (front) is facing towards the embossed arrow on the jig.

Carefully push the black plastic case of the Hall sensor in the direction of the arrow, bending the leads and forming a 90 degree angle.

Remove the Hall sensor from the first jig. It should now have a 90 degree bend in the legs. Insert the sensor into the second, smaller jig so that the leads protrude from the bottom. Push the sensor in as far as it will go so that the length of the leads protruding is maximized.

Use a pair of flush cutters to clip the leads as close to the surface of the jig as possible.

Now insert the Hall effect sensor into the corresponding slot in the front of your motor mount base. The leads should cleanly and securely insert into the 3 pin socket and the black plastic case should nest cleanly and flush with the engraved slot in the base.

It may be necessary to slightly adjust the leads of the sensor so that they align properly with the three holes in the socket.

It may also be helpful to use a pair of tweezers to gently place the sensor into the slot and align the leads. Do not use tweezers to push down on the sensor! Use a stronger tool for applying pressure.

The three leads should be securely inserted into the three socket connector. The sensor should sit flat against the plywood and the part number should be visit. See the third image for an example.

It may be necessary to sand down the mouse bites on the NeoPixel ring in order to make it fit properly. Grab a file or some coarse grit sandpaper and file down these rough bits until the ring is smooth and fits nicely inside of the laser cut ring.

Locate the NeoPixel ring and orient it so that the IN pin is just slightly to the right of 12 o'clock.

Place the NeoPixel ring on top of the wooden base, making sure to align the three pogo pins with the three holes (IN, G, PWR).

The pins should just barely insert into the three holes of the NeoPixel ring. Confirm that the pins are inserted into the holes by gently pushing down on the ring and attempting to rotate it. If the pins are inserted properly you should feel the ring slightly compress under the pressure of your fingers.

Attempting to rotate the ring with downward pressure should not result in any rotation. If the ring rotates it means the pins are not properly contacting the holes in the ring and you need to correct this issue.

Once you are certain all three pins are aligned properly, push down on the NeoPixel ring. The pins should insert into the headers and the ring should sit flush against the wooden base.

Locate the acrylic diffuser and the three wood screws (pointy ends). You will also need a flat blade screwdriver. Note that your screwdriver may look different than the one shown here.

Note that you may have to remove a protective film from one or both sides your acrylic diffuser. Once these films are removed your diffuser should be a milky, translucent white.

Use the screwdriver to screw the three screws through the holes in the diffuser into the plywood. The holes in the plywood are undersized so you will need to use a little pressure when driving the screws to cut threads into the plywood.

Be sure to securely hold the three plywood layers together as you tighten the screws. If gaps appear while you are tightening the screws you will need to back the screws out, re-clamp, and then tighten the screws again.

When you are finished with all three screws the acrylic should sit flush against the plywood rings and the there should be no gaps between the plywood. The acrylic layer will put pressure on the NeoPixel ring and Hall sensor to keep them in place.

Locate the 3D printed shell back. Orient the shell back such that the opening is pointing up and the flat edge faces towards you. See the first image.

Gently insert the PCB assembly into the shell back, keeping the "ECEG 201" label pointing to the top protruding nub of the shell back.

Place the shell front onto the shell back, aligning all of the various tabs with the PCB assembly. The magnets in both the shell back and shell front should align properly and the opposite poles should keep the shell front in place.

Keeping your hand below the DAMNED project, tip it forward and give it a gentle shake downwards to confirm that the shell front and shell back are prpoerly held together by the magents and the PCB assembly does not pop out.

Locate the 3D printed motor arm you designed and printed previously.

Press the motor arm on top of the motor shaft in the center of the acrylic diffuser. You may need to use a bit of force to press fit the arm onto the shaft. It should be a snug fit.

If the arm is difficult to secure you can remove the PCB assembly from the shell front and place it flat on a surface (with the motor back flat against a surface). This will provide you with a rigid surface to press against while attaching the motor arm.

There should be a tiny gap between the bottom of the arm and the top of acrylic diffuser.

Rotate the motor arm several times in complete circles, both directions, around the face of the DAMNED.

Confirm that the arm does not slip from the motor shaft. This can be difficult to to gauge visually. Fortunately, because this is a stepper motor, there are discrete magnetic fields that act as detents as the shaft is rotated. You should feel a consistent snapping between these weak fields.

If the rotation is completely smooth and you do not feel snapping, or the snapping is inconsistent, you most likely need to redesign or reprint your motor arm.

Congratulations! You are done assembling the DAMNED device!