How to Make Your Own Professional Arduino Sheld

In this instructable I will show you how to make your own professional looking arduino shield. In the proses of designing the arduino shield I will use eagle.cad, arduino software & viewplot.

First step in making a arduino shield is thinking of what you want it to be. depending on what your shield is going to be will vary the parts that you will need for it.

PS: the picture is a sneek peek  on my new arduino shield. :)

We will be designing the shield in a software called eagle.cad. If you don’t have the software already downloaded then here is a link to the website http://www.cadsoftusa.com/ .
In eagle.cad  you first design your shield with a schematics. If you don’t know what a schematics is there is a really good video on it by Collin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cps7Q_IrX0  . I use sparkfuns eagle library for the arduino shield. https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun-Eagle-Library .

Ones you have that all done you can start making your schematics in eagle.cad. To add a part in eagle.cad you click on the button on the left that looks like a plug and should say add if you hover over it. Then find your component and make your schematics. After  you  have completed your  schematics you have to press the board it is located on the top row of buttons and to the right of the button that looks like film. After you press that another window should pop up and you should see your components. Just move your components were you want them on the shield, there should be thin yellow lines on the points of your components don’t worry that’s what it should have. Once you have your parts where you want them you can ether press auto button it’s the one that’s on the side bar right above the  very bottom that looks like a magnifying glass. Or you can press the rout button and hand rout the joints, this is better if you want to only have a 1 sided board.

To check your board  and getting the files needed for the companies that will print the board for you  you  use viewplot . for instructions that could explain this better then I could go to http://hackaday.com/2009/01/15/how-to-prepare-your-eagle-designs-for-manufacture/
And read from the part that says Create gerber files and down.

After you have designed  and check your pcb you have to order theme frome someone.acuple of pcb companies are seeed, pcbbatch, and  there are others. you also need to buy  your parts for your shield. then you are done.