Electrical Components

The electrical design relies on commercial circuit boards so that the circuit is easy to assembly and components are easy to replace.  The commercial circuits, which are all found on the Bill of Materials, are hosted on a custom PCB.  The design files for this custom motherboard are available on GitHub.  Each tensegrity strut has its own motherboard, and each motherboard has a charging port and a power switch for convenience.

a circuit board with components plugged in

The commercial PCBs can be easily plugged in on the custom motherboard.  Unused ports are intended for planned future work.

To fabricate a motherboard, some components like the motor connectors are surface mount, so you will need equipment for reflow soldering.  If reflow soldering equipment is not available to you, you should considering ordering the boards with assembly from your favorite PCB manufacturer.