Chapter One - Soldering the components
Now that you know how to solder, let's put it to the test. Ready?
Part one - Soldering the components
Let's begin! Here are the parts necessary for this step - the main board with the connected Li-Po battery.
This is a crucial step that has to be done before you do any soldering at all!
You'll see where the connector pins are sticking out of the board next to the CircuitMess Wheelson logo. There are ten soldering connections in total you have to make here.
First, carefully place the soldering iron on the first pin so that it’s touching both the pin and the little plated area around the hole that the pin is going through.
Leave it like that for about 5 to 10 seconds, so it heats up, and then apply the tip of the solder to pin/pad. The solder should easily melt and spread evenly around the joint.
(Watch out not to burn yourself! When you are doing this, make sure you do not touch the pin that you soldered/are heating up as this will be hot!)
Now we need to find its place on the board.
First, find the CircuitMess Wheelson logo on the board. On the left of the logo, near the bottom of the board, there should be five holes. This is where you should place your switch. Make sure to push it all the way in.
Turn the board over and start by soldering the first pin. Repeat the procedure for the rest of the pins.
Heads up - the pushbutton pins are shaped like a rectangle, so make sure to fit them accordingly. Also, ensure that the pins go all the way through the board - you might have to push a bit harder in order for them to go all the way through the board and sit flat.
There are quite a few soldering connections to be made here, so take your time.
Make sure that all the buttons sit flat, you may have to press the buttons a couple of times to make sure they are fitted securely in place.
Insert the pins into the board with the screen.
Be careful when inserting the header pins since the top and bottom parts are slightly different. The part you want to insert into the screen is the shorter side (in the picture above, it will be the top part of the header pins).
1) Solder just the first pin of one row of headers
(Watch out not to burn yourself! When you are doing this, make sure you do not touch the pin that you soldered/are heating up as this will be hot!)
Now, we'll move on to connecting the screen to the main board. Here's what you need for this step:
Take one golden brass spacer and place it on the opposite side of the display board and screw the bolt in at the same time so that the spacer and bolt are secured tightly! You can do this with your hand but don't be afraid to ask for help from an adult to make sure the bolt is tightened correctly.
Twist on the brass spacer onto the end of the metal bolt
When looking at the display board from the back, the upper left corner should remain empty.
Turn the main board upside down while holding the screen so it doesn't fall out.
Take one metal nut and place it on the bottom of the bolt poking through.
Tighten it with your fingers, so it holds the screen in place.
Repeat that for all three bolts.
Make sure that the board is upside down, and find the pins that will connect the screen.
They're located between the two bottom spacers that you were just tightening in the previous step.
When you're ready, let's move on to connecting the electromotors to the board.
Here are the components you'll need for this:
Pick up one of the electromotors. Here you'll see that each motor has two small metal pieces with a hole on the bottom. We need to put some solder in the hole to fill it in.
Use your soldering iron and some solder, and melt a generous amount of solder into the hole. Do this for all four electromotors.
Put a generous amount of solder into the hole
Be careful to connect the correct cable to the correct side. Here's a tip on how to do that:
You'll solder these wires into the holes you just filled with solder. Using your soldering iron, melt the solder and simply stick the tip of the wire in.
Use the photo below as a reference:
Here's a pro tip for you: bend the resistors' pins outwards, as shown below, so that they don't fall out or move around when you're soldering.
Once the resistors have been soldered to the board, it's time to cut off the excess pins. Grab your diagonal cutters and cut off the excess.
It's important to note how you insert the LED into the board. So take some time to inspect the LED first!.
You'll see that one of the LED's legs is shorter than the other, and if you look closely, you'll notice that one side of the LED is straight while the other is round.
The straight edge of the LED should line up with the straight edge drawn on the board. Another reference you can use is that the LED's shorter leg should go through the hole right next to the straight edge.
Alright, everyone, this is the last time you're going to use your soldering iron in this project. It's time to solder the LEDs to the board!
The first thing you have to do is unplug the Li-Po battery from the board. You do that by pulling on the white plastic connector at the end of the RED and BLACK cable until the battery disconnects. Make sure you don't pull on the wire itself but rather the white connector.
This is a crucial step that has to be done before you do any soldering at all!
Unplug the battery from the board
Do not skip this step, you must unplug the battery before beginning the soldering process.
You'll see that the main board has a cable with a camera on the end of it. This cable is very delicate so please be careful when you are soldering and handling the board not to damage it!
Flip over the board while being careful not to make sudden movements with the camera cable hanging from the board, and position the 5 JST connectors on the board like so.
You'll see that one side of the JST connector has holes on it. Make sure that those holes are facing away from the camera and the camera connector on the other side of the board! Place four JST connectors next to each other on the board in that way.
The fifth and last JST connector should be placed in the opposite direction with the holes facing towards the camera, camera connector, and the other connectors.
Here's a photo of how they should be placed:
Flip over the board while being careful not to make sudden movements with the camera cable hanging from the board, and position the 5 JST connectors on the board like so.
Insert the JST connectors all the way in
It's important that the JST connectors are inserted in the right way.
You'll see that one side of the JST connector has holes on it. Make sure that those holes are facing away from the camera and the camera connector on the other side of the board! Place four JST connectors next to each other on the board in that way.
The fifth and last JST connector should be placed in the opposite direction with the holes facing towards the camera, camera connector, and the other connectors.
Here's a photo of how they should be placed:
Your JST connectors should be positioned on the board like this
Next, turn over the board - making sure none of the connectors fall out - and check the pins.
You'll see where the connector pins are sticking out of the board next to the CircuitMess Wheelson logo. There are ten soldering connections in total you have to make here.
Turn over the board and get ready to solder the first pin
It's time to solder the first pin!
First, carefully place the soldering iron on the first pin so that it’s touching both the pin and the little plated area around the hole that the pin is going through.
Leave it like that for about 5 to 10 seconds, so it heats up, and then apply the tip of the solder to pin/pad. The solder should easily melt and spread evenly around the joint.
Make the first connection
Repeat this process nine more times until all ten pins are soldered to the board.
This is how your soldering connections should look
Once you finish soldering, turn the board over to check whether all connectors are securely connected to the board.
One version has the switch on the top, and the other has the switch on its side.
Regardless of which version of the switch button you get, they will both work completely fine.
Great job! You soldered the first components to the board.
Part two - Soldering the switch button
In this step, you'll solder the switch button to the board. This button will be used to turn Wheelson on or off. Here are the components you'll need:
- Main circuit board
- Switch button
Circuit board and the switch button
A quick side note: you can get one of the two versions of the switch button.One version has the switch on the top, and the other has the switch on its side.
Regardless of which version of the switch button you get, they will both work completely fine.
(Watch out not to burn yourself! When you are doing this, make sure you do not touch the pin that you soldered/are heating up as this will be hot!)
The two versions of the switch button
Now we need to find its place on the board.
First, find the CircuitMess Wheelson logo on the board. On the left of the logo, near the bottom of the board, there should be five holes. This is where you should place your switch. Make sure to push it all the way in.
Push the switch button into the holes on the board
This is how the switch button should look after it's inserted
After inserting the switch it's time to connect it to the board. Get ready to make some more soldering connections!
Turn the board over and start by soldering the first pin. Repeat the procedure for the rest of the pins.
Soldering the switch button to the board
Check if all five pins have been soldered to the board correctly.
This is what the soldering connections should look like
Awesome! Another component is now soldered to the board. Pretty cool, right?
Part three - Soldering the buttons
Let's move on to soldering the buttons to the board. Here are the components you'll need for this step:
- The main board
- Six Pushbuttons
The circuit board and six pushbuttons
It's time to find where the pushbuttons go. Let's use the CircuitMess Wheelson logo as an orientation point once again. You'll see six white circles on the right side of the logo - this is where the pushbuttons should go.
Heads up - the pushbutton pins are shaped like a rectangle, so make sure to fit them accordingly. Also, ensure that the pins go all the way through the board - you might have to push a bit harder in order for them to go all the way through the board and sit flat.
Insert the pushbuttons
Insert all six pushbuttons
Let's do some more soldering! Turn the board over and solder the pushbuttons to the board.
There are quite a few soldering connections to be made here, so take your time.
Make sure that all the buttons sit flat, you may have to press the buttons a couple of times to make sure they are fitted securely in place.
Solder the pushbuttons
Check if all pins have been soldered to the board. Here's how the connections should look:
Pushbuttons soldered to the board
Part three - Putting on the button caps
The pushbuttons are rather small and aren't the most comfortable thing to press.
So, we included some more comfortable button caps that will solve this issue. It's time to add them on. Here's what you need:
So, we included some more comfortable button caps that will solve this issue. It's time to add them on. Here's what you need:
- The main board
- Six button caps
The main board and six button caps
Just like in the photo below, place the button caps on the pushbutton and push until they click into place.
You’ll notice a little protective layer on top of the screen, which you can take off by pulling the little green tab. Don’t do that just yet though! This just ensures that the screen stays protected all the way through the soldering part.
After you’ve done your soldering, you can take it off; this will make your screen really shine. Everything will work just as well, even if the protector remains on, so don’t worry too much about it. Let's just jump right in!
You'll need the following parts to begin with:
Push the button cap until it clicks into place
Repeat this process for the remaining five buttons/caps. This is how your board should look with all the button caps on:
You're doing great! Ready for the next step?
Step five - Soldering the screen
Soldering the screen is a big step, so you should treat it carefully.
You’ll notice a little protective layer on top of the screen, which you can take off by pulling the little green tab. Don’t do that just yet though! This just ensures that the screen stays protected all the way through the soldering part.
After you’ve done your soldering, you can take it off; this will make your screen really shine. Everything will work just as well, even if the protector remains on, so don’t worry too much about it. Let's just jump right in!
You'll need the following parts to begin with:
- The screen
- The header pins.
Look at the picture below to see what they look like:
Insert the pins into the board with the screen.
Be careful when inserting the header pins since the top and bottom parts are slightly different. The part you want to insert into the screen is the shorter side (in the picture above, it will be the top part of the header pins).
It's soldering time! Now, bear with us, this is important.
Pins should be soldered perpendicular to the screen. There is a useful tip that you can use for this, so keep reading.
1) Solder just the first pin of one row of headers
Solder the first pin
2) When the first pin is soldered, check if the header pin is perpendicular to the board3) If the header is slightly skewed and needs adjusting, melt the solder and tilt the headers with your fingers.
(Watch out not to burn yourself! When you are doing this, make sure you do not touch the pin that you soldered/are heating up as this will be hot!)
When you're confident that the pin header is perpendicular, continue soldering all the remaining pins, just like in the photo below.
All the pins are soldered
You have now successfully soldered the header pins that will connect the screen to the main board. Great job!
Now, we'll move on to connecting the screen to the main board. Here's what you need for this step:
- The main board
- The display board
- Three brass spacers
- Three metal nuts
- Three metal bolts
The components you need
Take the display board and turn it so that the display is facing you. Start by inserting medium metal bolts into the top left hole of the display board.
Take one golden brass spacer and place it on the opposite side of the display board and screw the bolt in at the same time so that the spacer and bolt are secured tightly! You can do this with your hand but don't be afraid to ask for help from an adult to make sure the bolt is tightened correctly.
Twist on the brass spacer onto the end of the metal bolt
We don't want the screen to move or slide so let's double-check that the bolt is tightened to the brass spacer! Using a small Phillips screwdriver, twist the metal bolt until it is securely connected to the display board.
Tighten the bolt
Repeat the same steps on the bottom left and right corners. Secure one big metal bolt and one golden spacer per corner, ensuring they are tight enough.
When looking at the display board from the back, the upper left corner should remain empty.
You can now place the screen on the board. Make sure to place the screen on top of the main board, as seen in the photo below (so that the pins go on the left side of the board).
Let's tighten and secure the screen to the board.
Turn the main board upside down while holding the screen so it doesn't fall out.
Take one metal nut and place it on the bottom of the bolt poking through.
Tighten it with your fingers, so it holds the screen in place.
Repeat that for all three bolts.
Tighten the nut so that it holds the screen in place
Repeat until all three bolts are tightened
Alright, everyone, it's time to solder the screen to the board!
Make sure that the board is upside down, and find the pins that will connect the screen.
They're located between the two bottom spacers that you were just tightening in the previous step.
Solder the pins to connect the screen
Solder all 8 pins in place until they look like this:
All the pins soldered
Step six - Soldering the electromotors
How are you holding up? Feel free to take a break if you need it.
When you're ready, let's move on to connecting the electromotors to the board.
Here are the components you'll need for this:
- Four electromotors
- Four JST cables
Pick up one of the electromotors. Here you'll see that each motor has two small metal pieces with a hole on the bottom. We need to put some solder in the hole to fill it in.
Use your soldering iron and some solder, and melt a generous amount of solder into the hole. Do this for all four electromotors.
Put a generous amount of solder into the hole
Holes filled with solder
Let's connect the JST cables to the electromotors now. You'll notice that one cable is coloured red (positive) and the other black (negative). This is so that you know which cable goes onto which side.
Be careful to connect the correct cable to the correct side. Here's a tip on how to do that:
- Turn the electromotor so that the white plastic tube is on the top and the metal bottom part is facing you - see the photo below.
- Solder the red wire to the left side and the black wire to the right side of the electromotor.
You'll solder these wires into the holes you just filled with solder. Using your soldering iron, melt the solder and simply stick the tip of the wire in.
Connect the red wire to the left side of the electromotor and the black wire to the right side.
Repeat this step for the remaining three motors.
Step seven - Soldering the camera and headlights board
Awesome work so far! It's time to solder components to the camera and headlights board. These are the components you'll need:
- Camera and headlights board
- Two resistors
- Two LEDs
- One JST connector
First, turn the board upside down and fit the JST connector into the two holes on the back. Again, look for the part of the connector that has holes in it, and make sure to turn it so that it's facing away from the angled part at the top of the board.
Use the photo below as a reference:
Turn the board back around - making sure the connector doesn't fall out - and solder the two pins to the board.
Pins soldered to the board
Now, pick up one of the resistors and bend it to fit into the two holes on the front of the board. There's a quick way of doing this:
- Pinch the resistors with your thumb and index finger.
- Using your other hand, bend the two pins down in the same direction.
- Make sure that each side of the resistor is bent at a 90-degree angle.
The two holes it should fit through are on either side of the board on the front of the board - see the below photos for reference!
Bend the resistor
Fit the resistor to the board
Repeat the same process for the second resistor.
Both resistors inserted through the board
Okay, let's solder the resistors to the board now!
Here's a pro tip for you: bend the resistors' pins outwards, as shown below, so that they don't fall out or move around when you're soldering.
Bend the resistors' pins outwards
Solder both resistors to the board.
Once the resistors have been soldered to the board, it's time to cut off the excess pins. Grab your diagonal cutters and cut off the excess.
Turn the board around so that the wires are facing away from your face and eyes. Make sure that you do not scratch the PCB as this could cause some issues in the future.
Turn the board away from your face and eyes and cut off the excess.
Now, we'll connect the two white LEDs to the board. First, take one of the white LEDs.
It's important to note how you insert the LED into the board. So take some time to inspect the LED first!.
You'll see that one of the LED's legs is shorter than the other, and if you look closely, you'll notice that one side of the LED is straight while the other is round.
White LED
Now take a look at your board. You'll see that the circle illustration on the board has followed this same principle. One side of the circle is round while the other has a straight edge. This should give you an idea on how to correctly place your LED.
The straight edge of the LED should line up with the straight edge drawn on the board. Another reference you can use is that the LED's shorter leg should go through the hole right next to the straight edge.
Insert the LEDs
You can use the same trick from before and bend the LED's pins so that it doesn't fall out while you're placing the second LED in.
Alright, everyone, this is the last time you're going to use your soldering iron in this project. It's time to solder the LEDs to the board!
Once the LEDs are soldered, cut away the excess wires with diagonal cutters. Be careful to cut away from your face and eyes.
You have now successfully soldered the LEDs to the circuit board.
LEDs soldered to the board
Remember
We hope you had a great time soldering the components. Sadly, you'll have to turn off your soldering iron now! But we're not done yet, there are more fun steps to follow! Please turn off your soldering iron by unplugging it from the power outlet. Leave it on the soldering iron stand for at least five minutes, so it cools off before you put it away.
Ready to continue?
If you need help with cleaning the tip of your soldering iron, please check our video tutorial.