Mechanical...Calculator!

Made some edits to the model, viewed it using my 3D printing software, and I’m contemplating whether to make more adjustments or not.

My earlier case design was stationed flat to the desk surface which… isn’t optimal for ergonomics and functionality

Today I raised the case design.

Finished the PCB!!! Major leap in progress.

While I wait for my PCB to arrive I will be designing the housing for my project. Im definetly going to need to do some real measuring with the components when the PCB arrives but I’m doing what I can for the time being.

This is the wall for the case. I plan to mount it using plates.

I am quite new to CAD so this took me quite a while haha.

Today I continued working on the PCB for my Mechanical Calculator project.

After finishing yesterday’s schematics I assigned the footprints to each component of my build.

NOTE: I plan to hand-wire the battery to the microcontroller later when I have the materials ready.

I designed my PCB to be 86mm x 126mm using KiCad. This design features 17 keys (10 number keys and 7 operation keys) . I also used KiCad’s 3D viewer feature to visualize my PCB.

Designing the PCB.

I’m creating a schematic for the pcb based on a common calculator layout.

This includes:

• Designing the key matrix (to reduce the amount of pins needed on the microcontroller).
• Creating labels and connecting it to the microcontroller.

I’m using the Arduino Pro Micro as my microcontroller, a 7 segment 8 digit display (MAX7219), and using mechanical keyboard switches.

I haven’t assigned any footprints yet.