Not sure when to use solder paste or flux? This video by Curious Scientist (YT) gives a clear beginner-friendly explanation with practical examples under the microscope. Feel free to share if there's anything else you would add. 👀
Good soldering also starts with high-quality PCBs. Bring your electronics projects to life with professional PCB manufacturing from PCBWay!
Hey, 12 days ago I posted my 4-knob LED pattern controller here and the response was way bigger than I expected.
What changed since then:
- Designed my first PCB in KiCad (PCBway sponsored the manufacturing after seeing the original post — huge thanks)
- Swapped all 4 potentiometers for rotary encoders with push switches
- Cleaner case design to fit the new PCB and encoders
- All files on GitHub: schematics, PCB artwork (Gerber), 3D models for the case, firmware
I also built a website and just wrote the first post on it — a long build log looking back at the whole journey, in both English and Korean. Wrote it today while pausing to think about where this is heading.
GitHub: https://github.com/engmung/PatternFlow
Site + build log: https://patternflow.work/journal/v1-30-days
If it's useful to you, a star on the repo would mean a lot.
My girlfriend and I just finished building a laser projector based around a cheap X/Y galvo kit, 200mW RGB laser module, and an ESP32.
It's surprisingly capable and was a lot of fun to build! It can display vector art, and we've implemented a few basic demos like a simple version of Asteroids or an interactive/scrollable map. There's also a 3.5mm audio input for using it as a music visualizer.
The ESP32-S2 was a great fit for this: we used the two 8-bit DACs to control the beam position, using op-amps to go from the 0-3.3V range up to the +/-10V range we needed. Each of the three lasers (red, green, blue) are driven with PWM. The firmware is written entirely in Rust, which was a first for me but went much more smoothly than I expected!
Writeup with all the details is here: https://breq.dev/projects/laser-projector
This is a rotating 100-LED filament lamp prototype featuring 25 independently spinning sections, creating a dynamic and visually striking lighting effect. The build was developed by Nick Electronics (YT), combining creative mechanical design with custom electronics to bring the concept to life.
We're glad to have supported the development of this project. If you have a similar idea and want to turn it into a real hardware build, feel free to explore PCBWay!
Watching these ATmega32U4 PCBs by CuriousScientist(YT) come together is oddly satisfying — from bare boards to a perfectly aligned assembly. Clean soldering, precise layout, and smooth USB MCU integration make the whole process feel effortless and precise.
What part of PCB assembly do you find most satisfying to watch?
Saw this project by atarabyte (IG) and had to share it here. She used a transparent PCB design that really shows off the internal routing and components instead of hiding everything on a traditional board.
Transparent PCBs like this are a nice mix of aesthetics and engineering—you still get proper circuit performance, but the board itself becomes part of the visual design instead of just being a base layer.
If you're into PCB design or just like unique hardware builds, check out PCBWay.com!
MCUs and MPUs are both essential processing chips in electronics, but they are designed for different tasks. An MCU combines the processor, memory, and peripherals into one compact chip for real-time control and low-power embedded systems, while an MPU focuses on high-performance data processing and usually works with external memory and a full operating system. Choosing the right one depends on your project requirements, from simple IoT devices to advanced computing systems.
Which one do you use more in your projects — MCU or MPU? 👀
🎉 Exciting news!
CadQuery — the powerful Python-based parametric 3D CAD software — now partners with PCBWay. You can now export your design directly as a STEP file and send it straight to our instant quoting page.
Watch the demo here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AuPr7cgEcTY 🙌
Greetings! I wanted to share a personal project I've been slowly iterating on for the past 8-ish months.
This is Meshlet! It's a tiny little node based on the RP2350, which I designed to be deployed just about anywhere. You can throw it in a box outside with a solar panel and take advantage of the MPPT-like charging, turn it into a handheld communicator, leave it on a windowsill hooked up to a BBS script - whatever you want! Standout features include:
The board itself is my first ever 4-layer PCB design! I learned a lot about the importance of having unbroken ground planes as return paths wherever possible, especially when working with high-frequency designs. Revising the board was also a fantastic lesson in minimizing unnecessary parts (i.e. duplicate pullup resistors/etc) and managing/optimizing power consumption & delivery.
As for actual real-world use, I've had one running in a solar enclosure off a cheap little 5V panel and 3000mAh battery for the past few months, and it never dropped below 40% despite the gloomy Canadian winter weather. I've also been carrying one as an everyday use node, and have been running a third installed in a cheap solar garden light for around a week to test out the LiFePO4 support, and I haven't suffered a single failure, brownout, or unexpected reset so far on any of them! I'm extremely happy with the stability of these things.
This was a very self-indulgent project, so I don't sell these or have any available to buy, but the whole project is open source and available on GitHub! I also need to give a massive thank you to PCBWay for sponsoring this thing, it wouldn't have left the prototyping phase without their support & and the opportunity to lean on their PCBA services. Always super happy with the end result and build quality. I'm very glad to be able to finally share this project now that all the little bugs and issues from the first few revisions have been ironed out!
>Transparent Purple Case for a Game Console
A handheld gaming console, but with a transparent purple custom shell, giving it a clean translucent look with a subtle color shift under different lighting. The mod is focused on aesthetics while keeping full original functionality. See how it looks here.
Transparent parts are difficult to achieve with home 3D printing due to surface texture and light scattering. Professional manufacturing delivers a much clearer, more consistent translucent finish, making designs like this truly stand out. If you need similar custom parts, check out PCBWay.com.
>Modular AI Hardware Platform Built Around the ESP32-S3.
Open-source ESP32-S3 AI hardware platform mainboard with camera, audio, and sensor support in a compact modular design. It’s built for expandable AI and interaction applications. The project is now in prototype stage, open to feedback and iteration. More details here.
>100-day IOT Challenge
This is a 100-day challenge building real-world IoT projects daily using MicroPython on ESP32, ESP8266, and Raspberry Pi Pico. Each project is shared with code and implementation details. The challenge is still ongoing, and it's exciting to see what will be built next. More info here.
Which project do you like most? Share your thoughts or your own builds with us 🚀