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Assembly Guide for the ProtoMate/PerfMate for Raspberry Pi
This guide will show you how to assemble your ProtoMate or PerfMate for Raspberry Pi. Naturally, what you decide to solder to the board's proto area is up to you, however this guide will cover a few basic pointers on orientation, header fitment and soldering order.
There are currently four versions in the ProtoMate/PerfMate range for the Raspberry Pi:
Parts Check
In the package, you will find the following two items:
- Your PerfMate/ProtoMate PCB
- A 2x20 GPIO Header
You may also need (not included):
Assembly Tips
Solder the GPIO header last
The basic construction of these boards is to solder the header to the underside, to allow you to push it onto your 40-pin Raspberry Pi/Pi Zero.
However, we suggest doing this part last. It's a lot easier to solder components and wires to the underside of the board if the plastic header is out of the way, otherwise, some angles are tricky to achieve, and you end up accidentally melting the header!
PCB orientation
Normally, you will solder your components and wires on the rear/underside of the board (but it's your project, so do it however you like).
The rear/underside of the board can be identified in a few ways:
- The 'REAR SIDE' text
- The white block around the GPIO header section
- The QR code (which you may find tricky to scan - we're improving that on the next batch with a simpler code!)
The shiny Pi Hut logo will always be on the front of our boards as well, so you have plenty of indicators for orientation.
Plan, plan, plan...then plan some more!
We can't stress this enough - plan where you want to fit components and wires before moving to the hot stuff! Use our black and white printable planning sheets to mark out where you want things to go:
- PerfMate Zero A4 Printable Planning Sheet
- ProtoMate Zero A4 Printable Planning Sheet
- PerfMate for Raspberry Pi A4 Printable Planning Sheet
- ProtoMate for Raspberry Pi A4 Printable Planning Sheet
The very last thing you want to do is get halfway through soldering components and wires, and then realise you've not left enough room for something (or just got your part placement wrong).
This is even more crucial with the breadboard-style ProtoMate boards, as the connected lanes need some careful forethought.
Standoffs
If you want to mount your ProtoMate/PerfMate with standoffs, you'll need M2.5 fixings.
We found 12mm M2.5 nylon standoffs fit well and leave only a tiny gap between the Pi and header, which is fine and doesn't affect the connection
Secure these with (at least) 5mm M2.5 nylon screws and you'll have a very secure HAT!
Over to you!
The rest is up to you, as is the nature of these prototyping boards - a blank canvas for you to move your breadboard project on to, and make your very own HAT!
Enjoy!
