Having your schematic design thoroughly tested and prototyped is an essential phase in any manufacturing process. PCB prototyping will allow you to spot design flaws and address them at this stage.

Before you send your product off to the manufacturer, you’ll want to be sure that you’ve caught all of the bugs and design flaws. The last thing that you’d want is thousands of faulty products on your hands.

In this article, we will introduce the types of PCB prototype boards, their applications, and other information associated with them.

What is Prototyping?

In electronics, prototyping means building an actual circuit to a theoretical design to verify that it works. An electronics designer often builds the first prototype from breadboard or stripboard or perfboard and usually uses them to test circuits. They are generally called prototyping boards.

Prototyping boards have holes to which you affix electronic components to build your desired circuit. These components can be attached with or without solder depending on the type of board. We can say that electronics prototype boards are for temporary testing and construction of electronic circuits. You will find it more appropriate to develop your design on a prototyping board.

Common PCB Prototype Board Types

urrently, in the market, you will come across a breadboard, perfboard, and stripboard.

Breadboard

The most popular prototyping board is the breadboard. It serves as a construction base for testing if a circuit works. Just like any other prototyping board, it consists of holes where you affix your electronic components. A modern solderless breadboard socket consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous tin-plated phosphor bronze or nickel silver alloy spring clips under the perforations. The spacing between the clips is typically 0.1 inches.

As they are mostly developed from white or dirty white plastics, this board doesn’t need solder for attaching components. And because it does not need soldering, it is reusable which makes it easy to use for creating temporary prototypes and popular among students. You can use it for a variety of projects varying from simple to high level digital or analog circuits.

Perfboard

A perfboard is a prototyping board that is a thin sheet with holes at standard intervals across a square-shaped grid with a spacing of usually 0.1 inches. Square cover pads cover these holes. Inexpensive perfboards may have pads on only one side of the board, while better quality perfboards have pads on both sides. When using a perfboard, you make all connections using either wire wrap or miniature point to point wiring techniques. Other boards usually need to use the solder for attaching components.

The absence of default connectivity on perfboard gives the designer more freedom in positioning components. Circuits assembled on perfboard are not necessarily fragile but maybe less impact-resistant than printed circuit boards.

Stripboard

Like the other common type of prototype PCB, stripboards also have the individual hole set up. Instead of each perforation having a single conductor pad, strips of copper run parallel under the length of the board to connect the holes—hence the name. These strips substitute as wires, and you can also break connections as well.

Stripboards are often made from insulating material, such as resin-bonded plastics or fiberglass. There are many advantages to using this kind of prototyping board, such as low cost compared to PCBs, less messes from chemical hazards and plotting, and a faster building time.

PCB Prototype Board Applications

Avionics systems, which encompass communication, navigation, and monitoring, rely on highly reliable PCBs. Prototype boards ensure these systems function correctly under various conditions, from extreme temperatures to high altitudes.

Satellite Technology

Satellites require robust and dependable circuitry. A PCB prototype board helps in developing satellite components that can withstand the harsh environment of space, ensuring long-term mission success.

Renewable Energy Systems

Renewable energy, specifically renewable energy systems, such as solar and wind power, depend on efficient and durable electronics. These boards are used to design and test inverters, controllers, and monitoring systems that maximize energy conversion and efficiency.

Power Grid Infrastructure

The stability and reliability of power grids are critical. A PCB prototype board plays a role in developing control systems, fault detection mechanisms, and communication networks within the grid infrastructure.

When to Use Prototypes?

Prototypes are essential to the testing and design process as a whole, but if you’re looking to keep prototyping costs to a minimum, here are the most essential conditions in which to use prototypes:

New Product Production

If a project involves a novel design or function, prototyping is going to be critical. Prototyping allows the design team to test the desired function and the design as a whole, which enables them to detect issues early on in the design process. Even in cases where the project is similar to one your team has done before, prototyping is essential to ensure the overall functionality of your product before you continue with the design process.

Testing

For any type of testing, from quality assurance tests to environmental tests, prototypes are a necessity. Rapid prototype PCB production allows your team to begin conducting tests quickly to prepare for official third-party testing, and the more accurate the PCB, the more accurate the tests.

Complex Components

If a project is particularly complex, containing multiple components and structures, prototyping is going to be the best option. Complex structures are notoriously difficult to fix when problems occur, and breaking each function down with simple PCB prototyping can help pinpoint problems early on in the design process. This way, your team will spend less time figuring out the source of the issue and more time improving the overall product quality of your circuit boards.

Modeling Purposes

Sometimes you need a visual representation of the physical design, but don’t need a functioning PCB. In this case, a prototype made with basic materials can be an excellent solution. This way, you can have the visual aid without spending money on a standard production board.

What Can We Do?

typing is a powerful tool for designers, offering time and cost-saving benefits while also ensuring that your final product is top-quality. If you are interested in using PCB prototype services for your next project, contact PCBAIR today.

Our process is simple — we use CAD software to prepare the prototype layout, choose the material for fabrication then cut and assemble the board. From there, you’ve got a circuit board that’s ready to test. Once you’re ready, we’ll also help you transition from prototyping to the manufacturing process.

KKPCB conducts research on special processing technologies such as ordinary double-sided boards, thick copper circuit boards, high-frequency circuit boards, HDI circuit boards, rigid-flexible circuit boards, FPC flexible boards, buried blind hole circuit boards, and IC carrier boards. Provides PCB design, PCB layout, PCB prototyping and PCB assembly services