PCB design question

[taskman]

I started working on my PCB design and I am wondering if I am not doing something that is a bit crazy

My container for the electronics will be a cylinder 3D printed with a hole on the one side that allows the user to see the display. Each PCB will be clipped into a larger bracket and the bracket will slot ito the container.

Looking at the cylinder there are 3 boards in there. The big board is where the main electronics will be located, e.g. all my mosfets, my temp sensor, tilt sensor, regulator, connectors and so on. It will be the main board/brain. The second one that is a little smaller is the sound card and the smallest one is the Teensy 3.

My idea is to not solder the Teensy onto the main board, but rather solder wires onto the Teensy and then add connectors to the wires. The connectors will plug into the main board or the sound board or the display. I am doing this so that the main board doesn't get extremely long. This allows me to use all the space in the cylinder. The reason for the cylinder is because I want to create my laser guns to almost look like district 9 weapons. The nice thing with having the brain in a cylinder that can detach from the gun is the brain can easily be replaced if something is wrong with the electronics. The good thing about using a cylinder is that it can take more punch than a square from an 8 year old that might throw a gun against a concrete floor

I kind of based this idea off the test equipment that I saw Paul using to test the Teensy with all the legs coming out of the test board. So is it a good idea to do something like this or should I just put everything on one board, make it long and change out my weapon design accordingly?

The cylinder


District 9 design

 

[Headroom]

In general a more modular design where the components have distinct functions as in your case is a very good idea. If that 8 year old tosses the thing on the floor and something breaks you may not have to throw away, or fix the big monolithic board but perhaps only one of them.
Also, in projects like that, function and design have to go hand in hand. If the design is "meh" no one is going to pick up the gun provided better looking alternatives ar available. If the function is only so-so then it's used only once.

I still would socket the Teensy ( there are variants that are much more low profile than the standard header) and not solder it directly to a board. Perhaps you can use some form of a clip to retain it in the socket. Or you could use a small cable tie.

 

[Epyon]

If you're going to fab it, it's better to place everything on as less PCBs as possible to reduce cost. You can then also use components with very small footprints.

In my designs I keep the Teensy on regular PTH headers which are then soldered to the main board. A standard header still gives enough room (around 3mm) to place 0603 components such as resistors and capacitors or low profile IC's below the Teensy.

It's also a lot easier soldering the Teensy on a PCB then soldering wires to it.

 

[Perry]

I use a wax-coated nylon string to secure chips in their sockets. It is a non-conductive somewhat flat string that slides under the socket above the PCB. There is usually sufficient gap to use this method.

I can never find my small side cutters to remove zip ties...