This week, I worked with Rhea on building and testing the switch matrix. We ran into a few minor connection issues, which we resolved through testing and soldering. I also helped soldered the LEDs to fit the Catan board cutout, working modularly and testing as we went. We verified the switch matrix by testing each button individually and checked LED connectivity every few strips.
We encountered more soldering issues than expected when securing the LEDs, so to make debugging easier, we split the LEDs into two separate strips. Our original plan to minimize soldered segments made sense at first, but bending the LED strips to fit the settlement and city layout (three LEDs in a peace-sign shape) caused problems, so I resoldered the broken connections and replacement LEDs. For future builds, we plan to solder those connections separately to avoid bending the strips altogether.
Since both the hardware and software components, switch matrix and LED wiring, now work independently, we’re ready to connect the two boards and start testing how they interact. While assembling the board, we realized we need to add a frosted acrylic layer above the tokens (to mark robbers) and leave more space between the LEDs and buttons. We also decided to fill the engraved numbers with black ink for better visibility.
In addition, I laser-cut the second LED board cutout and the switch matrix. We tested alternate buttons with a higher height, but they proved unstable and sometimes got stuck when pressed. Through this week’s testing and design adjustments, we’re confident we can build the second board more efficiently with these improvements.
Next week, I’ll help finish assembling and testing the second board.