StarTiny v1 is in!

The circuit boards have come back through BatchPCB, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. The lines are clean, the sizes are just to spec, and I got 20 boards instead of the ten I ordered (presumably to account for manufacturing defects, though I haven’t found any). I populated one of the PCBs, and the design works!

The Boards

The StarTiny boards turned out just right. Granted, it’s a very simple design. However, the price was right at just $3 per board. I originally hoped to order in the US, but the cost was just too high for an entry-level designer trying to get a feel for the manufacturing process.

The Code

The code I had written for my solderless-breadboard ATtiny was close to correct, though the timings were a bit off from what I wanted. As I’ve said before, there’s not enough flash space to include floating-point math libraries, so I had to forgo the sin() function I used on the Ardweeny. The code uses a rudimentary linear ramp to approximate the sine, and the results are pretty good, though there is a bit less visual distinction between the nodes.

I altered the pin mappings in the code to reflect the connections on the PCB, and I think with a few more tweaks I can get the look just right.

Change of Plans with Paper

The paper doesn’t pass light as well as I had hoped. I could try sourcing brighter LEDs, but they would have to stay under the 20mA drive capabilities of the ‘tiny. I think I might go with lighter-colored (and thinner) paper instead. The issue then would be structural integrity, though.

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