Taking your prototypes further
If you’ve made a prototype on a breadboard and then moved it to a garment, it’s likely you’re testing it. This will help you to iterate it and discover improvements. Once these have been worked through, it might be time for you to move it to a circuit board. A printed circuit board (PCB) is the unique design that you’ve taken to a manufacturer to build according to your custom designs and then you can make unlimited copies. One of the boards I’ve made (see Figure 14.20) has slits in the sides so you can attach it to a strap for attaching to clothing or bags:
Figure 14.20 – A PCB manufactured from my design made in Eagle
The circuit board has the traces, the connections between the components, and you would solder on the actual components. You can also get flexible circuits now, but they cost a lot more than traditional circuit boards. I usually go for the thinnest board they offer so that...