Roadmap / Hardware
Practical Components
Even a single resistor on a schematic needs a rating, tolerance and package before it becomes a board.
Goal Pick real parts from their datasheets.
- 01Choosing resistors3D lab
Power rating, tolerance, temperature coefficient, and packages such as 0402 and 0603.
- 02Types of capacitors
MLCC, electrolytic, tantalum, and the DC-bias trap that shrinks MLCC capacitance.
- 03Inductors and ferrite beads
Saturation current, DCR, and beads that absorb noise.
- 04Crystals and oscillators
The source of the MCU clock. Load capacitors and placement.
- 05Connectors and terminals
Current rating, pitch, locking: the most common point of failure in the field.
- 06Fuses and protection parts
How to choose polyfuses, TVS diodes and varistors.
- 07Pull-ups, pull-downs, decoupling3D lab
Resistors that hold a floating pin, and capacitors that steady the supply next to a chip.
- 08Reading a datasheet
Absolute maximum ratings, recommended conditions, electrical tables, timing diagrams.
Read the parts of an existing board
Open the schematic of an Arduino or Nucleo, find the decoupling capacitors, crystal and regulator, and note what each does.
If you can tick all three, move on to the next subject. Ticks are saved in this browser only.