- Electronic Hardware Training Programs
- Making Electronic Kits for Labs
- Building Robotic Models
- Modeling Control Systems
- PCB Design Training Programs
- And many others
Printed circuit boards are now an essential part of most equipment. They are the basic structure holding electronic components together, thereby forming the functional/control system of the equipment. Many educational institutions in the US use printed circuit boards for different purposes like:
PCB Requirements of Educational Institutions
In fact, educational institutions related to electrical and electronics make use of various types of Printed Circuit Boards USA at all levels. For primary levels, where small children learn coding, institutions require simple PCB board USA for mounting various types of microcontrollers. At intermediate levels, where students learn about different types of electronic components, various prototype PCB USA are necessary for making functional models. As students progress further, they may delve into more complex electronics like controls and robotics, which require USA PCB manufacturers to make boards of moderate complexity.
The main difference between printed circuit board requirements between the industry and educational institutions is in the quantity and reliability. Whereas electronic industries may require many hundreds of boards of one type to release a product in the market, an educational institution requires only a few boards of one type.
Fabricating several hundred numbers of a PCB board reduces the cost per board by distributing the design and manufacturing expenses over the larger number of boards. When only a few boards are necessary, the expenses add up and each board becomes prohibitively expensive. PCB manufacturers use different methods to make boards cheaper for educational institutions:
Milling Cutters
These are simple milling machines with high accuracy, useful for making single and double-layered boards of low to average complexity. When paired with a CAD system, the machine can generate a printed circuit board with the necessary pattern. The CAD system guides the cutter bit to remove unwanted copper from the copper clad substrate following the design pattern. The machine can also drill holes if necessary.
Table-top milling cutters are available for producing medium-sized boards. Apart from the capital expenditure necessary for procuring the machine and the copper clad substrate, there is very little running expense involved, and therefore, making even a single board is not an expensive task.
3D Printed Boards
Prices of 3D printing machines are progressively dropping. These machines can make printed circuit boards by depositing a pattern of conductive ink on the substrate according to the necessary circuit pattern. This method is suitable for simple and non-complicated boards.
As for milling cutters, the major expense is for the 3D printing machine, and running expenses are very low. Therefore, the 3D printer can produce individual boards at low costs per board.
Customizable Printed Circuit Boards
As reputable USA PCB manufacturers, we supply educational institutes with customizable printed circuit boards. Although producing individual boards using milling cutters or 3D printing machines can make them at low costs, most institutions prefer to use customizable printed circuit boards, as they can use the same design for different purposes, and this feature makes them not only cheaper than boards produced by other methods, but also customizable boards are available at very short notice.
Customizable printed circuit boards are blank boards for building custom electrical circuits. The circuit board design of most of these boards allows them to fit inside compact electronic housings. We offer these boards in two formats—with component groups in series or tripad layout.
Customizable printed circuit boards with component groups in them may have up to five footprint sizes in parallel. We offer them through hole components, and surface mount devices. Typical designs involve SMDs with 5 x 5 mm pads, 1210 pads, 1206 pads, and 0805 pads. PCBs with six component groups are also available, while other designs offer floating positions for large inductors.
With our customizable printed circuit boards, users can create their own passive electronic systems. They can house these board assemblies within extruded aluminum enclosures for operation. Each board has large grounding bars, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the board. This design allows users to make proper electrical connections within the enclosure and also provide the board with a shield.
Conclusion
Since technology is so fast-paced these days, it is important that students keep up with it by using industry-level customized boards in universities itself so that they get hands-on experience with industry trends.
