ALio Proto Board
by AERD
Open source prototyping board that fits almost any SMD and through-hole components at the same time
Crowdfunding Page History
This page is an archive of the original crowdfunding campaign for this project. It may not be up-to-date with the latest updates and product availability. Return to the current project page.
Details
Recent Updates
- Jan 16, 2018 Thank You!
- Jan 13, 2018 First Batch Shipping
- Jan 08, 2018 Boards Are Shipping Soon!
- Dec 14, 2017 Look Ma, I Can Solder SMD!
As Featured In
ALio Proto Board is a prototyping board designed for electronic hobbyists who want to make prototypes containing SMD and through-hole components without using an extra breakout board. ALio is compatible with the traditional proto board while including all the features and benefits of traditional proto board.
Point-to-point wiring is easy with ALio, just a blob of solder does the trick. In addition, the double layer bus lets you route as circuits as if they were on a double-layer PCB, so you can forget about using wire jumpers. This is great for quickly prototyping stackable circuits.
ALio lets you freely attach SMD component in any location or direction, so you can forget about using an extra SMD breakout board; ALio fits almost all SMD components. ALio is great for beginners, since it is easy to solder and allows you to move your bread-board project to a permanent proto board project.
The Embedded and Arduino compatible versions provide SPI breakout, since SPI is the most common protocol and because wiring SPI directly to a microcontroller can be challenging.
Because every project needs power, ALio provides a 2-in-1 Micro-USB/Mini-USB pad, so powering and connecting your project is easy.
Specifications
- Size: L x W x H : 88.2 mm x 65.3 mm x 1 mm
- PCB : FR4 0.8 mm
- Finishing : HASL-lead
- Finished copper: 1 Oz Cu with black masking and white silkscreen.
Product Features
- Fits SMD and PTH components at the same time.
- Has a double-layer BUS for wire-free connections.
- Has a Micro-SD/SD card breakout or any general SMD sockets.
- Has an SPI break out pad for some variant.
- Has a 2-in-1 micro-USB and mini-USB pad for some variant.
- Open source design.
- Large prototyping area.
- No more SOIC-break out boards needed, this board fits all SOIC, SOP, and SO type ICs.
ALio Board Comparison
| ALio Basic | ALio Embedded | ALio Arduino | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SD/microSD breakout | yes | yes | yes |
| mini/micro USB pads | no | yes | yes |
| SPI breakout | 1x | 1x | 2x |
| Arduino shield mounting holes | no | no | yes |
ALio Basic Board
ALio basic board, top view.
ALio Basic is designed for wide area prototyping. It is like a standard protoboard, but with the freedom to combine SMD and PTH components without any additional breakout board. And with an extra 1.1 mm pitch pad, you can attach a micro-SD/mini-SD or any SMD socket.
ALio Embedded Board
ALio Embedded is designed for prototyping that involves microcontrollers. With an extra SPI pad, micro-USB/mini-USB pad, and extra 1.1 mm pitch pad, prototyping microcontrollers on a protoboard simpler than ever before. If you want to prototype with another MCU or need a large prototyping area, the embedded board is for you.
ALio embedded board, bottom view.
ALio Arduino Compatible Board
The ALio Arduino version is also designed for prototyping that involves with microcontroller. It has an extra SPI pad, micro-USB/mini-USB pad, an extra 1.1 mm pitch pad, and is also Arduino compatible. It includes an Arduino pinout for stacking it to another Arduino board. In short, with this version of ALio, you can build your own Arduino board or Arduino-custom-shield.
ALio Arduino-compatible board, top view.
Alio Microcontroller Breakout Board
The ALio MCU Breakout board is designed to fit TQFP44, TQFP32, MLF32, and SOIC IC packages on one side. On the other side, it has a unique pad to fit SMD components for your microcontroller’s minimum requirements, such as capacitors, inductors, crystals, resistors, or LEDs. It also has a mini-USB/micro-USB pad, so you can use it as a stand-alone microcontroller board.
ALio MCU breakout board, top and bottom.
How to Use ALio
ALio comes with a unique and different orientation NON-through-hole BUS pad designed to be used for SMD components or routing circuits as double layer.
Here is an example for routing BUS as double layer to connect point A to A’ and point B to B’. Since the busses are NON-through-hole you can overlap the trace and minimizing jumper wire usage.
Comparisons
| Board | ALio | (Sparkfun) Wombat | (Adafruit) Perma-Proto | (Elecfreaks) Flower | Perf+ | RoutaBoard | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $7* | $9.95 | $4.50 | $4.90 | $7* | $4.58 | |
| Component Package | SMD & PTH | PTH | PTH | SMD & PTH | PTH | PTH | |
| Extra Breakout | 1.1mm pitch, SPI, micro-USB, mini-USB | no | no | SOIC | no | no | |
| Wire-free | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Cut-free | yes | yes | no | yes | no | yes | |
| Double layer bus | yes | no | no | no | yes | no |
*US shipping included
Manufacturing Plan
The final designs are completed. We will be using PCBway as our PCB manufacturer.
Risks and Challenges
- We will start manufacturing for Early Bird pledges as soon as the campaign meets its goal. If any errors occur after or during manufacturing, we can respond immediately.
- Logistics will be handled by Crowd Supply, who has experience from packaging to shipping, this will reduce the risk from fulfillment issues.
