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I've taken the below notes and translated them into a planning document.   Please click on the LINK HERE to be linked to the spreadsheet.   Please let me know if anyone has more comments.  Regards, Mark

AreaDescriptionActivitiesEquipmentPower / HVAC / Lighting RequirementsAdjacencies
Whole E-Lab




Fabrication & Assembly
  • Individual work on projects
  • Collaborative area that we can work face to face
  • Space to work on microcontrollers and SBC projects
  • Assembly for small projects, putting pieces together and/or putting pieces into project boxes or containers (ie., rockets, robots, etc., etc.)



Testing
  • Use of test equipment to measure performance of products
  • Testing of proto-type products



Demonstration
  • Collaborative area that we can work face to face




Education
  • Space for presentation of electrical concepts, technologies and equipment
  • Collaborative learning area
  • In-person/Virtual Meeting/Classroom
  • Soldering 101 events
  • Take-a-part events
  • Build-a-circuit events
  • Home Automation Seminars
  • Conduct dual format workshops



Storage
  • Small Parts Storage (LEDs, SMT parts, resistors, capacitors, MOSFETs, etc.)
  • Large Parts Storage (Project boxes, heat sinks, cableing, wire, etc.)
  • Sorting of parts
  • Labeling of parts boxes
  • Placing boxes in order
  • Cubbies and/or Racks
    • (3 Grey Units)
    • (1 Bin Rack)
    • (6 tool boxes)
    • (drone parts)
    • (robot parts)
  • Racks, Closets, Shelves
    • (2 door cabinet)
    • (10 Black & Yellow Boxes)
    • (2 wire racks)
    • (bookcase for equipment manuals)
    • (large diameter shrink wrap and long tubes)

  • Wholly within the Elab or immediately adjacent
  • If located in Classroom,  Classes can't block access to stuff in storage

Assembly kit:

  • Flush cutters
  • Wire strippers
  • Tweezers
  • Dental picks
  • Screwdrivers
  • Bench sockets
  • Small notebook
  • Pens, pencils

Soldering station kit:

  • Solder wire
  • Solder station tips
  • Solder suckers
  • Braided wire
  • Shrink wrap
  • Flux dispensers
  • Jeweler's magnifier
  • Soldering station
  • Sponges (natural & brillo)
  • Tip tinner

List of potential classes or workshops:

  1. Home Automation
  2. Home Networking
  3. Raspberry Pi Projects
  4. Arduino Projects
  5. LoRa Projects
  6. Self-paced electronics projects
  7. Radio Projects
  8. Solar Projects
  9. CNC Foundation 

Mar 7, 2024 | Electronics Night Meeting to discuss what Electronics Lab wants to be when relocated to Makersmiths-Leesburg downstairs

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  • Do a needs assessment first.
    • What will be electrical requirements for
      • Test Equipment - What test equipment do we want downstairs?
        •  Grounding Requirements - Avoidance of static electricity
        •  Wall warts - Standard set of 3, 5, 12 volt power supplies
        •  Set of banana cables  separated into type 
        •  Anti-static mats on each table
        • Hot Air Rework Station
        • Reflow Oven
        • Power Supply (ies) - Single Output (30v 10a), Dilips’ Dual Output ( ??),  (Two Leader Tracking power supplies and and one HP brand PSs)
        • Signal Generators?  2 of them (??) - Questionable to keep
        • Spectrum Analyzer?  1  (??) - Questionable to keep
        • Oscilloscope 1 (??) - Yes, Yes, Yes  Very much needed
        • Any other equipment?
    •  Grounding Requirements - Avoidance of static electricity
    •  Wall warts - Standard set of 3, 5, 12 volt power supplies
    •  Set of banana cables  separated into type 
    •  Anti-static mats on each table
    • Hot Air Rework Station
    • Reflow Oven
      • Computers 
        •  Single linux-based small form factor computer, maybe?
      • Monitors
        •  Projector or Prometheus or whiteboard
      • Soldering Station(s)
        • Two soldering stations; one higher end (rework and more) and one for general purpose, solder suckers
        •  Consider filtering or exhaust nearby
      • Other Equipment?
        •  Flush cutters, wire strippers, tweezers, dental picks, screwdrivers, bench sockets,  
    • What are lighting requirements?
      • General Lighting? - LED 2x4s
      • Any Task Lighting? - Task specific lighting on at least one bench
    • What are HVAC requirements?
      • Any special requirements, such as exhaust for soldering or SMT work?
      • Humidifier or Dehumidifier? - Keep it within certain Rh limits
      • How many people
    • are we looking to work in this space?How many people
      • at a time? - Optimize for two, any more, we’ll spill over into the classroom.
    • Listing of Equipment
    • Parts Bins
      • Test Equipment - list of pieces and dimensions of them.  Also consider where electrical cords go…
      • Binocular magnifier(s)
      • Storage Requirements
    • Black and Yellow boxes
        • Three Gray Units
        • Bin Rack
        • Two Door Cabinet
        • Wire Racks
        • Bookcases with equipment manuals
        • Large diameter shrink wrap and long tubes
        • Tool boxes
        • Drone Parts
        • Small Hardware Bins
        • Black and Yellow boxes
        • Parts Bins
      • Storage Shelves and/or Racks
      • Work surfaces
        • Hard surface - cutting, pounding, heat, (needs to be durable)
        • Static Dissipative, grounded surface (where do we ground to?)
      • Hand tools - pegboard or clearly labeled bins or drawers
        • Will have to decide on what tools this means
    • Hard drop(s) for ethernet connections
    • Materials
      • Breadboard(s), jumper wires in all combinations, 
      • Arduinos and RaspberryPis
      • What will be electrical requirements for
      • What are lighting requirements?
      • What are HVAC requirements?
      • How many people are we looking to work in this space?
      • Listing of Equipment
      • Hard drop(s) for ethernet connections
      • Materials


    • From Needs listing, we do a ‘space program’, listing space/area and the requirements of each
    • From Space Program, we do three preliminary layouts / designs
    • From Preliminary, we select one to refine.
    • From Preliminary, we will price things out and create a draft timeline
    • From Final Design, we will include layout, costs & timeline.
    • Then to Facility Committee and Board of Directors for $$$$

    ...

    • Overall discussion of what the Elab wants to be:
      • Collaboration space - something to be able to work face to face
        • Flexible in configuration to accommodate different sized things
        • Spread out broken stuff to DIY fix
        • Collaboration space - something to be able to work face to face
        • Space to demo stuff face to face
        • Space to work on micro-controllers
        • Space to work on project boxes; assembly for small projects
        • Three Main Sections:  Fabrication & Assembly, Testing and finally Demonstration
        • Support for group activities (for example KidWind) and/or classes - robot teams, rocket teams, home automation teams
        • Support for proto-typing entrepreneurs
        • Will be important to know what we have and where it is located.
        • Support for education:  IE. a Classroom kit - multi soldering kits and accessories - Will likely need three to six stations for Classroom function

      ...