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Add links to assembly instructions
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deshipu committed Sep 12, 2017
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Expand Up @@ -8,11 +8,12 @@ so that some simple soldering is required before using it.
Basic Assembly
==============

The simplest way to assemble the PewPew board is to use an Adafruit Feather
board with female pin headers (Feather M0 Express works great for this), and
to solder the male pin headers onto the PewPew FeatherWing. Afterwars, insert
the LED Matrix into place, solder its pins from the bottom, and trim them with
wire cutters.
The simplest way to assemble the PewPew board is to use an `Adafruit Feather
<https://www.adafruit.com/category/946>`_ board that supports CircuitPython (the
`Feather M0 Express<https://www.adafruit.com/product/3403>`_ works great for
this) with female pin headers, and to solder the male pin headers onto the
PewPew FeatherWing. Afterwars, insert the LED Matrix into place, solder its
pins from the bottom, and trim them with wire cutters.

.. image:: images/pew-assembly.png
:align: center
Expand All @@ -25,34 +26,38 @@ Note that you should solder the pin headers first, and then solder the LED
matrix. Trying to do it in the opposite order may lead to damaging the matrix
with your soldering iron.

.. note:: The Adafruit Feather board is not included in the kit.


Making it Flatter
=================

The basic assembly is fine, but it's good 2cm thick. You can make the whole
thing much thinner by applying a number of tricks. First, use the narrow female
pin headers for the Adafruit Feather. Second, move the plastic on your male pin
headers to the end of the header, insert the header from the top, and try it
with the Feather to see how long the pins need to be. Then solder them, and
trim the parts sticking out from the top with wire cutters. This way the PewPew
FeatherWing can sit right on top of the battery plug of the Feather.
thing much thinner by applying a number of tricks. First, use the `short female
pin headers<https://www.adafruit.com/product/2940>`_ for the Adafruit Feather.
Second, move the plastic on your male pin headers to the end of the header,
insert the header from the top, and try it with the Feather to see how long the
pins need to be. Then solder them, and trim the parts sticking out from the top
with wire cutters. This way the PewPew FeatherWing can sit right on top of the
battery plug of the Feather.

Note that the narrow headers are not included in the kit.
.. note:: Note that the short female headers are not included in the kit.


Optional Battery
================

To make the PewPew even more portable, you can add a small LiPO battery (the
100mAh batteries are about the right size). The FeatherWing even has a power
switch built-in that you can use. Just solder the battery leads to the two
holes marked "+" for the red wire, and "-" for the black wire. Be very careful
to not short the battery wires while you are doing that. Then you can use
two-sided tape to stick the battery on the underside of the FeatherWing,
sandwiching it between the two boards. You may need to add some electric tape
to prevent the metal body of the battery from shorting things on the boards.
To make the PewPew even more portable, you can add a small LiPO battery (`the
100mAh batteries<https://www.adafruit.com/product/1570>`_ are about the right
size). The FeatherWing even has a power switch built-in that you can use. Just
solder the battery leads to the two holes marked "+" for the red wire, and "-"
for the black wire. Be very careful to not short the battery wires while you
are doing that. Then you can use two-sided tape to stick the battery on the
underside of the FeatherWing, sandwiching it between the two boards. You may
need to add some electric tape to prevent the metal body of the battery from
shorting things on the boards.

Note that the battery is not included in the kit.
.. note:: Note that the battery is not included in the kit.


Software Setup
Expand All @@ -70,3 +75,6 @@ needed to use the PewPew hardware.
In addition, you need to copy your program onto the board. You have to name it
``main.py`` for it to be started automatically on power-up. Later on we will
see how we can use a menu program that will let you choose what to run.

You can get all the files from the
`project's repository <https://github.com/deshipu/pewpew>`_.

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