ENGS 32 Winter, 2003

Prototyping Methods
There’s more on this in Scherz, Practical Electronics for Inventors.
Solderless Breadboard or Plugboard

This is what we’ve been using in

lab.
Advantages
• Very fast to build and make
changes.
• Works well with DIP ICs
Disadvantages
o Limited reliability—lab
testing only, for limited-size circuits.
o High capacitance between adjacent rows (~ 10 pF).
o Only for small-lead-size components (.032” or 0.82 mm max—a 1 A diode lead is just barely
too big to meet the spec.)
Springboard
Used in ENGS 22
Advantages Disadvantages
• Fast to build and make changes. o Can’t accommodate small lead
• Accomodates large wire sizes. spacings such as on ICs.
• Secure, reliable connections. o Although it is reliable enough for
long-term use, it’s expensive for
• Can handle higher current/power.
that purpose.
Wirewrap

Connections made by fine wire wrapped tightly around square pins of special IC sockets. This is a great
way to make a permanent version of a digital circuit almost as quickly as using a solderless breadboard.
Used in ENGS 31.
Advantages Disadvantages
• Fast to build and make o Low current—limited to under a few hundred mA.
changes. o High inductance/resistance—on the order of 0.1 ohm,
• Can make a complex 0.25 µH per foot.
circuit compact. o Only makes reliable connections to square leads (as
• Reliable. are on wire-wrap IC sockets). Discrete components
• Can be used (e.g., resistors, capacitors, transistors) need to be
permanently. soldered to a “header” that goes in an IC socket or to
individual wire-wrap pins.
• Inexpensive.
Prototyping Methods
ENGS 32 Winter, 2003

Perfboard and Solder.

Using the same perfboard as used in wire-wrap work, it is possible to simply
twist and solder leads, and run wires where needed.
Advantages
• Reliable, if done well.
• Can be used permanently.
• Inexpensive.
• Can handle any size components
• Convenient for working with discrete components.
Disadvantages
o Slow, requires skill to do well.
o Works for ICs, but not very easily.

Variations:
• Perfboard with individual copper pads on each hole so that the solder will better hold things in
place. (Photo below)
• Perfboard with a perforated ground plane. Provides the shielding and grounding benefits of a
ground plane, and makes ground connections easy, but requires care to avoid shorts. Some have
the ground plane etched from around the holes; others require you to cut the copper away from
the holes with a special tool. This is also possible with wire-wrap, as in the photo in that
section.

Prototyping Methods
ENGS 32 Winter, 2003

Generic Printed-Circuit Board—multiple hole-per-pad.

A printed circuit board with a pattern of holes and connections similar to a solderless breadboard.
Advantages
• Easier than using plain perfboard, especially for ICs.
• Reliable.
• Can be used permanently.
• Available with ground planes if needed.
Disadvantages
o Usually not as compact a final circuit as some alternatives, because you are constrained by
layout.
o Pads bigger than needed can add capacitance, but not much.
o Can be expensive, especially the “vectorboard” brand.
o Sometimes awkward for odd sized or large components.

Prototyping Methods
ENGS 32 Winter, 2003

“Dead Bug,” or “Ugly-board”

Start with a plain copper-clad board. Glue ICs down with the leads sticking up in the air. Then solder
to them
Advantages Disadvantages
• Provides an excellent ground plane. o Requires high soldering skill.
Can be a high performance way to o Takes a long time to build.
build sensitive and/or high- o Mechanical support for components is
frequency analog circuits marginal; can add glue (“RTV” ) after
• Can make a complex circuit debugging.
compact. o Only makes reliable connections to square leads
• Reliable. (as are on wire-wrap IC sockets). Other
• Can be used permanently. components (e.g., resistors, capacitors,
transistors) need to be soldered to a “header”
• Inexpensive.
that goes in an IC socket or to individual wire-
wrap pins.

Prototyping Methods
ENGS 32 Winter, 2002

Variations:
• Manually cut the board with a dremel tool to isolate sections for purposes other than ground
plane (use the back for ground plane). See photo below.
• Glue on little rectangles of cut-out board to add power busses, etc.

Printed circuit board (PCB)

This is what is used virtually universally in production of electronics.

Advantages Disadvantages
• Easy to build in production. o Laying out the board and getting it fabricated
• Repeatable, controllable stray L, C. takes time, although you can pay for
fabrication in a few days if you can afford it.
• Can handle virtually any component,
power level. o Expensive, on the order of hundreds of
dollars for one, but with almost no increase
• Highly reliable. in cost to make many.
• Can make very compact. o Hard to make changes, but making changes
• Design can be (somewhat) automated may be easier than building another type of
from a schematic you have entered. prototype.

Prototyping Methods
ENGS 32 Winter, 2002

Notes on surface-mount components

Most modern production designs now use surface-mount components instead of “ through hole” components.
The circuits can be more compact, and the board layout is easier because different things can be done on each
side (and in additional layers between sides) without through-holes interfering. But prototyping gets much more
difficult!

Prototyping options for surface mount

• Simulate, and then lay out a PCB. Don’ t ever make a breadboard.
• Order DIP ICs and leaded passives for the prototype, and then switch to surface mount for production.
• Get adaptors that have pads to solder surface-mount ICs to, and then standard-spacing (0.1” ) pins in DIP
or SIP layout. Digikey carries “ surfboards” made by Capital Advanced Technologies, and adaptors
made by Aries Electronics. In addition to DIP and SIP adaptors, there are boards with solder pads for
connecting larger wires; these work well for prototypes built in “ dead bug” style.

Prototyping Methods