Assembly Instructions for the SG-µMD0 - RS422 and Analog Inputs

Version 1.00 (27-Feb-21)

Copyright © 1994-2021
Samuel M. Goldwasser
--- All Rights Reserved ---

For contact info, please see the
Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Email Links Page.


Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
  1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning.
  2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.


Table of Contents


Preface

Author and Copyright

Author: Samuel M. Goldwasser

For contact info, please see the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Email Links Page.

Copyright © 1994-2016
All Rights Reserved

Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied:

1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning.
2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.

DISCLAIMER

µMD0 is intended for use in hobbyist, experimental, research, and other applications where a bug in the hardware, firmware, or software, will not have a significant impact on the future of the Universe or anything else. While every effort has been made to avoid this possibility, µMD2 is an on-going development effort. We will not be responsible for any consequences of such bugs including but not limited to damage to the construction crane you picked up on eBay for $1.98 + shipping, financial loss from ending up in the Antarctic when the compass orientation provided by your home-built ring laser gyro was off by 1,536 degrees, or bruising to your pet's ego from any number of causes directly or indirectly related to µMD0. ;-)

Acknowledgment

Thanks to Jan Beck for providing support for enhancements and bug fixes and tolerating my silly C coding questions. He was also instrumental in developing the initial µMD1 firmware and GUI. And for getting me interested in actually getting involved in that project. If anyone had told me six months ago that I'd be writing code in C, MIPS assembly language, and Visual Basic - and enjoying it (sort of) - I would have suggested they were certifiably nuts. ;-) Jan maintains the master GUI source code as well as slightly different versions of both the µMD1 and µMD2 firmware and a development blog on these and other projects.


Introduction

The µMD0 kit of parts includes everything necessary for a 1 axis readout. The extension to 2 or 3 axes is left as an exercise for the user. But unlike µMD1 and µMD2, this is quite straightforward without adding too many gray hairs. ;-)

The Atmega 328P Nano 3.0 microcomputer is fully assembled including all pins. So µMD0 can be constructed on a solderless breadboard for testing at least. Later, it can be transferred to a prototyping board with soldered connections. All components are through-hole. The only parts not included in the kit are jumper wires for the solderless breadboard.

IMPORTANT: All the resistors are labeled using the standard color as shown below. Normal color vision is required to be able to identify these reliably. Even then, it is sometimes difficult to confirm the values that differ in one band or in poor lighting. And a magnifier may be required to read some markings on these and other components. If in doubt, have someone else assemble the kit or assist you.

For those not familiar with the common resistor color code (Black/0, Blown/1, Red/2, Orange/3, Yellow/4, Green/5, Blue/6, Violet/7, Gray/8, White/9), two of the resistors near the 8 pin UA9637 ICs in the layout diagram are are 680 (blue-gray-brown or 68 with 1 zero) ohms and 330 (33 with 1 zero) ohms. The gold stripe indicates 5 percent tolerance on the value but for the use here, tolerance doesn't matter. (It's possible the resistors you use will have 4 stripes where 3 of them are the value and the 4th is the multiplier, along with one for tolerance. If in doubt confirm the value with a multimeter.) The chart below is from Digikey. (If the link decays, a Web search will readily locate another one.)


Resistor Color Code Chart (from the Digikey Web site)

Schematic for the SG-µMD2 Version 1.0

The schematic for both the RS422 and Quad-Sin-Cos (analog) versions may be found at: SG-µMD0 Version 1.0 Schematic. (Coming soon.)

Printing out the schematic and having it available for reference while installing the parts on the solderless breadboard.

AAssembly Guidlines for RS422 Version

Coming soon.

AAssembly Guidlines for Analog Version

Coming soon.

The parts list below assumes populating the SG-µMD2 for 3 channels with the OLED display. So for a single channel system, some parts in this list may not be present and/or there is no need to install those associated with channels 2 and 3 and/or for the OLED.

The OLED display color may be yellow/blue (yellow for first two lines of text with blue for the remaining 6 lines), all blue, or all white. In addition, they may differ slightly in their pinout and mounting hole type/location as follows (viewed with the pins at the top):

There may be other variations. The kits will generally have the Type 1 yellow/blue OLEDs. If you bought a Type 2 OLED, DO NOT drill holes in the SG-µMD2 PCB to make the screws line up as this risks shorting the internal VCC and GND planes, use some insulated wires in place of the screws and Epoxy - or duct tape. ;-) Elongating the holes in the OLED PCB may be accepatable though.

  1. ( ) Confirm that all parts are present and undamaged:

    For a single axis system, approximately 2/3rds of the components in the last block will not be present. And the OLED will not be present, uh, for the system with OLED. :)

    The "Optional" parts identified below can be omitted if that feature is not being implemented. The LEDs especially are not really that useful and with the 10K ohm current limiting resistors, annoying bright. So you may want to at least experiment with higher values of resistors (like 22K or even 47K) to tame them.

  2. ( ) Install R0 (10K ohms) under where the Teensy socket will go.

  3. ( ) Install R31 (10 ohms) under where the Teensy socket will go.

  4. ( ) Trim the large socket if necessary so it has two rows of 14 pins. This is for MPB1, the Teensy 4.0 PCB.

  5. ( ) Carefully insert it in the PCB confirming no bent pins. Rather than flipping a coin :), orient it so the large cutout faces the USB to the left. Then solder two corners and confirm it seats flat, then solder the other pins. Inspect for solder bridges and unsoldered pins.

  6. ( ) Install the 8 pin sockets for U1 (single axis) and U2,U3 (three axes). Note orientation - the cutout goes to the right as viewed in the layout diagram. Solder and inspect for solder bridges and unsoldered pins.

  7. ( ) Install C1 (0.1 µF, single axis) and C2,C3 (three axes). C1,C2,C3 are the oval outlines to right of U1,U2,U3 respectively.

  8. ( ) Install R4,R9 (330 ohms, single axis) and R14,R19,R24,R29 (three axes).

  9. ( ) Install R5,R10 (680 ohms, single axis) and R15,R20,R25,R30 (three axes).

  10. ( ) Install D0 (3 mm blue LED). The anode is the longer lead and goes to the right as viewed in the layout diagram. The flat is the cathode and goes to the left. Cut the leads about 1/10" from the body if the LED can't be inserted to sit flush on the PCB. Take care not to overheat or stress the leads on the LED when soldering. Be as quick as possible.

  11. ( ) Optional signal LEDs:

  12. ( ) Install J1 (screw terminal block, single axis) and J2,J3 (three axes). Make sure the entrance holes for the wires face away from the PCB! Solder the center pin and confirm they are flat on the PCB, the solder the others. Check for solder bridges and unsoldered pins.

  13. ( ) Install jumper wires (cut resistor leads) at JB1 and JB2 as shown in blue on the layout diagram. This selects the Homodyne signals.

  14. ( ) Carefully inspect for unsoldered pins, solder bridges and other blemishes. Correct as needed. THIS IS ESSENTIAL! It would be bad form to blow the brain due to an errant blob of solder. :(

  15. ( ) Test the Teensy before doing anything to it. If it fails this test, contact me before proceeding.

    Unplug the USB cable.

  16. ( ) Assemble the Teensy 4.0 PCB to the pin or socket strips. There will either be a pair of 14 pin female-male socket strips precut or the male to male pin strip that needs cutting:

    Solder a single pin near the center and confirm it seats flush, then solder the rest. To assist in alignment, the strips can be inserted in the 28 pin socket taking care not to push any of the individual pins out of position.

  17. ( ) Test the Teensy as above before plugging it into the SG-µMD2 PCB to confirm the soldering hasn't done anything bad. Then unplug the USB cable.

  18. ( ) Carefully plug the Teensy into the 28 pin socket. The USB socket faces off the left side of the PCB as shown in the layout diagram. Make sure all pins are seated and none are hanging off the socket. CAUTION: Make sure all the pins line up with their entry points in the socket to avoid squashing the leaf sprint contacts.

  19. ( ) Reattach the USB cable. The power LED should come on immediately and after a second or so, the Teensy LED should start flashing as before. Unplug the USB cable.

  20. ( ) Plug a UA9637 or UA9639 IC into the U1 position. The dot or cutout should face to the right - these ICs are upside-down compared to the Teensy part labeling as shown in the layout diagram.

  21. ( ) Reattach the USB cable. The power LED and possibly one or both LEDs near U1 (if installed) should come on immediately and after a few seconds, the Teensy LED should start flashing as before.

  22. ( ) (Optional) Here is the nifty bit. ;-) Moisten a finger (doesn't matter which one) and touch the pins on J1. With some practice, it will be possible to make the LEDs near U1 to go on and off as the input to the line receivers cause them to toggle. While the behavior is not really predictable, just the fact that they change indicates the the line receiver is working. Since the UA9637 has some hysteresis, it latches but the slight charge from your electric personality is enough to toggle it. CAUTION: Don't get carried away, these parts can be damaged by static discharges. So, no cat's fur and plastic rods, please. :( ;-) (This will not be possible if the terminating resistors are installed, thus holding off on them for now.)

    If you're wondering how the OLED in the photo, above, can be displaying such large numbers with nothing attached to the inputs, it was done this way except the board was plugged in a USB charger, not a USB port. That must have a lot of ripple relative to my moistened finger, enough to easily trigger the UA9637 even with its hysteresis.

  23. ( ) Start the µMD GUI and select the COM port used to upload the firmware. The graph should start scrolling. But now, if you do the moistened finger thing, it should be possible to get the displacement to change for Axis 1. Once confirmed, unplug the USB cable.

  24. ( ) Repeat the previous 3 steps for axes 2 and 3 (U2/J2 and U3/J3) if desired.

  25. ( ) Heterodyne systems ONLY. Add the following wire jumpers on the bottom of the SG-µMD2 PCB on the Teensy socket as required depending on the number of axes. Use thin insulated wire and take care to avoid solder bridges. The second attachment point for each jumper can be to the appropriate labeled header pad:

    Single axis:

    Three axis:

    Note: The original design had the heterodyne signals assigned to pins that were the same as homodyne signals. But so far it has not been possible to decipher the control of the ARM Cortex M7 crossbar to put them there and the pins above need to be used for now at least. Thus the duplicate set of signals on the PCB V1.2 layout diagram. If that gets resolved, the additional jumpers will not be necessary.

  26. ( ) Optional OLED:

  27. ( ) (Optional) Install R1,R2.R6,R7 (single axis) and R11,R12,R16,R17,R21,R22,R26,R27 (three axes). The terminating resistors included in the kit are 150 ohms, which is generally satisfactory. However, your specific situation may differ. If in doubt, cut the 40 pin female-male socket strip into pieces and solder them in so other value terminating resistors can be swapped in without desoldering.

Congratulations, you're all set to go. Order that construction crane in need of a controller with free shipping on eBay. ;-)

Reference Voltage for Single Ended Input

Where the input signals are differential with approximately equal average levels and an amplitude more than about 0.5 V, the UA9637 RS422 receivers are all that's needed. This includes Quad-Sin-Cos which will automaigically convert to digital.

But where the input signals are single-ended such as normal TTL or only one polarity of a Quad-Sin-Cos, there are locations on the SG-µMD2 PCB for a reference voltage divider.

           +5V
            o
            |
            \
        R32 /
            \
            /
            |
            +------+-----o Threshold Voltage
            |      |
            \     _|_
        R33 /  C4 ---
            \     _|_
            /      -
           _|_
            -

The threhsold voltage should be selected to be approximately mid-way between the nominal high and low levels. For standard TTL, this would be 1.4 V. The resistor values can be in the 10K range with C4 of 0.5 µF.

Parts Lists

These are for both the RS422 and analog versions. The LEDs (along with their associated current limiting resistors) can be omitted if desired. But every digital system requires some lights! ;-) Refer to the schematic for more details.

RS422 Version Parts List

 Reference   Type      Part/Value     Function
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    C1     Capacitor  0.1 µF       U1 5 V bypass

   LD1     LED        3 mm HB LED     Red LED
   LD2     LED        3 mm HB LED     Green LED

   MPB1    CPU        Atmega 328P Nano 3.0  Nano soldered to header

   SBB1    Solderless Breadboard

    R1     Resistor   1K ohm, 1/4 W   Red Power LED current limiting
    R2     Resistor   100 ohms, 1/4 W Termination
    R3     Resistor   36K ohm, 1/4 W  Green Power LED current limiting
    R4     Resistor   100 ohms, 1/4 W Termination
    U1     IC       UA9637 or UA9639  RS422 line receiver

More to come.
Quad-Sin-Cos Analog Version Parts List

 Reference   Type      Part/Value     Function
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    C1     Capacitor  0.1 µF       U1 5 V bypass

   LD1     LED        3 mm HB LED     Red LED
   LD2     LED        3 mm HB LED     Green LED

   MPB1    CPU        Atmega 328P Nano 3.0  Nano soldered to header

   SBB1    Solderless Breadboard

    R1     Resistor   1K ohm, 1/4 W   Red Power LED current limiting
    R2     Resistor   36K ohm, 1/4 W  Green Power LED current limiting

    U1     IC       LM393             Sin/Cos thresholding

More to come.



-- end V1.00 --