Challenge: Fritzing and STEMTera library

ECE 206 Lab – Fritzing and STEMTera
Challenge: Fritzing and STEMTera library
Since you will be working on your circuits at home, it is often not practical to share a video of your
STEMTera board to get assistance from the TA. Since electronic components are usually small, and the
density of breadboard wires are usually high, it is often impossible to figure out a circuit without a
schematic. Fortunately, Fritzing is a FOSS (Free Open Source Software) program which lets you draw a
breadboard layout and automatically generate a schematic. The goal of this portion of the lab is to
install Fritzing and install the STEMTera library and use it for your Lab 1 report.
Challenge: Install Fritzing and the STEMTera library, use it to create a version of your STEMTera + NE555
circuit you created in Lab 1.1 to include with your lab report.
• Download the Fritzing installer for your platform (Windows
or MAC OS) as well as the STEMTera library.
• Start Fritzing, in the top right where it is labeled “Parts” right
click and select “Import…” from the menu. You will then
point the application to the STEMTera library (STEMTera
Breadboard.fzpz) wherever you downloaded it onto your
computer.
• In the primary tabs (the main portion of the application
window), select Breadboard. Notice that it will show by
default a blank breadboard (students who were in ECE 205
lab in person will remember this as very similar to the
breadboard used for ECE 205). Select this via the left mouse
button and then press the DEL key to delete. Note that you
will have to make sure to select the whole breadboard,
rather than a column or row of pins (the breadboard should
be outlined with a dotted line when selected).
• On the top right panel (Parts) select the third category labeled “MINE”. These are your
custom parts, since you just imported the STEMTera library, the STEMTera should show up
here. Click and drag the STEMTera into the main area where the breadboard used to be.
Since we are using the STEMTera as our main breadboard, this will be our ‘default
configuration’. Your screen should look like the following:
• You can save your sketch by going to File->Save As, that way you can start from this layout in
the future (e.g. ECE_206_default.fzz).
• Now go to parts->CORE (the second icon), scroll down until you hit ICs, and select NE555.
Drag to place this into the center channel just like you would on the physical STEMTera.
Then continue to build the circuit that you physically built in Lab 1.1. Create wires by
dragging between the connected points on the breadboard. Place the other components
(resistors, capacitors, etc) as needed.
• When your circuit is virtually “built”, switch to schematic view (the tab at the top). Because
the schematic is automatically generated, though it will reflect your breadboard
connections, the organization or the components and wires may be nonsense. Rearrange
the components and wires as necessary until it resembles the schematic on the Lab 1.1
manual (or another logical and aesthetically pleasing schematic as you see fit). Correct any
errors you may have made in your design.
• Save this design (e.g. ECE_206_Lab1.fzz, also you may export both the schematic and
breadboard to use for your lab report. (File->Export->Image)
Resources required for this lab:
• Lab 1.1 (should be at least started)
• Fritzing and STEMTera libraries installed on your computer.
Prelab Deliverables:
• No prelab for Lab 1.
• Make sure you can use this software. It is essential to be able to ask for help with Fritzing in the
future.
Required Deliverables:
• Both breadboard layout and schematic to include in your Lab 1 report.