How to Colonize an Asteroid
Printed circuit boards are at the heart of every electronic device. They replace wire, for the most part, and provide a lightweight but stable surface upon which to mount the components.
The boards are made from layers of fiberglass, coated with copper foil on one or both sides. (Sometimes there are even layers of copper between the layers of fiberglass!). The pathways of "wires" are printed onto the copper foil and the remaining exposed copper gets etched away. The ink is then cleaned off and holes are drilled into which components will be inserted.
There are many books on the subject available at your local library which will go into far more detail than I will here, but we will walk through the design of a simple PCB (Printed Circuit Board).
Our demonstration will be with the PCB for the 5 volt DC power supply project elsewhere in this web.
© 1998, Robert Lyon Richards