Breadboard: all its secrets

Protoboard

Una breadboard, also known as a breadboard or breadboard, is a plastic plate with holes where to insert the pins of the electronic components to interlace them with each other. The assembly is simple and allows you to assemble and disassemble your circuit projects whenever you want, as it does not involve soldering on a PCB board. In addition, several breadboard plates can be connected to form a larger plate if your project requires it.

Precisely the name of protoboard comes from prototype-board, because thanks to the fact that in the plastic casing it has the holes, they have contacts connected by lines to each other by means of tracks vertical and horizontal conductors, allows easy connection and disconnection of devices. That is why it is the element that cannot be missing in the home or workshop of any electronics hobbyist or maker, since it allows you to test your designs.

That would prevent you from recording tracks onto a PCB and that they are permanent to create the necessary layout for a circuit. If you use perforated plates (perfboard or stripboard), you will not have to weld either, so it will be extremely easy to assemble, reposition components, disassemble or replace any element of the breadboard ...

Breadboard architecture

breadboard connections

The Breadboard holes are specially located so you can insert any type of DIP circuit and other electronic elements such as transistors, resistors, capacitors, LEDs, diodes, etc. What you will not be able to use is other chips that have pins on their four sides since, as you can see in the next section, the lines are connected in a specific way. Also, do not insert the DIP chip in certain directions, since if the pins on each side are connected to each other it would not be correct ...

In general, the architecture is quite simple. If you know it you will know how to connect your elements appropriately, since when it is unknown, at first it is often confusing and your circuits may not work and may even be damaged by improperly biasing because you do not know how the rows and columns of holes are connected.

seismograph mark on paper
Related article:
How to create a homemade seismograph from scratch step by step

So that you connect them well, you must first imagine the plate as a hole table. With a series of vertical columns that form the nodes and a series of rows. Also noteworthy are the upper and lower rows or buses (some also have some in the center), which are usually used for link or for power lines (voltage and GND).

How to connect the components properly?

correct connection on breadboard

By example, in the connections image above you have:

  • Buses: two up and two down to be able to bring the power to your circuit properly. You can use the voltage and GND sockets of the Arduino to be able to integrate your board with a proboboard and from there run wires to the nodes to feed the entire circuit you assemble. By the way, in this case, although it is not frequent, there is also a central bus that you can use.
  • Nodes: nodes are the columns that are connected by a connector to each other. That is, the entire first hole column will be electrically interlocked. The second is the same, but not the first with the second. Note that the nodes are divided into upper and lower, and one and the other have no electronic connection. Therefore, the correct way to insert a chip is not aligning its two sides with pins with the nodes, but doing it horizontally and some pins must be in the upper nodes and the other side in the lower nodes. That way, each pin on the chip will be on a different track.
  • Interconnection: As you can see, to interconnect the buses with the nodes you need to lay cables. Also to connect several different nodes or columns.
  • Connect multiple boards: Although it does not appear in the image, the plates have connectors that fit together like a puzzle so that the connected plates do not move, but there will be no electrical connection between them if you do not create it by laying wires from one to the other.
  • Numeration: in some cases the nodes are numbered to make it easier for you, and the buses are also marked with the + and - symbol so that you do not have confusion, although you can really connect the power supply as you prefer, as long as the polarization of your circuit is correct.

Where to buy?

Amazon breadboard

You can find them in many electronics stores, too On Amazon. They come in various sizes, for example 400 hole breadboard or 830 hole breadboard which are somewhat larger. You already know that you can buy one or more to link them and thus create a much larger breadboard if you need it ...

Hereinafter, the breadboard will be your best companion for Arduino!


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