BatDrive

Hey everyone how's it going.

SO here's something super interesting and easy to make.

An SD Card Reader-themed after Batman Logo from Pattinson's Batman.

I call this makeshift setup BATDrive because it's kind of like a Pendrive that looks like batman's throwing shurikens or whatever they are called.

Imagine the scenario, Batman is currently fighting some guys and he needs to stop this computer which will release some kind of cliche missile, he throws his BATDrive at the USB port and it gets connected with the bag guy's computer and uploads some kind of virus into their system and boom, he saves the day yet again.

Now instead of putting some kind of malware in this drive, I put a few stuff that I got from riddler's official website that you guys can check out, it's a site that WB set up just for lulz.

My main goal for making this device was to prepare an awesome-looking SD Card reader that I will use daily with my 3D Printer.

I just got bored with the generic SD Card reader that I've been using for the past few years.

SD CARD READER ANALOGY

For this project, I wanted to completely make a fully fleshed SD Card reader or memory card reader with generic ICs available in the market like GL827L for example.

Because of its availability, I was unable to get it so I improvise a little bit.

I took a normal 1$ SD Card reader and open it up which revealed a pretty straightforward circuit that consists of an SD Cardholder, one LED, and this Block Epoxy spot.

This Epoxy Spot is known as COB or Circuit On Board and it houses a single wafer that is connected directly to the PCB.

But why use this COB method.whynot the whole IC?

Apparently, a wafer alone cost pretty less if compared with a complete IC with its semiconductor body so most companies buy wafer in bulk and produce their product with this COB Method.

This saves cost.

Anyways, I removed the SD Card Holder from the board, this made the SD Card circuit much more like a module.

PCB DESIGN

To start this project, I first set up the batman logo in my OrCad setup.

I had to search for its black and white image and then convert it into BMP so my OrCad could import it as a PCB layer.

After importing the Batman shape as a PCB outline, I then prepared the SD card Reader footprint so I could solder the circuit that I had salvaged from the commercial SD Card reader.

SD CARD READER FOOTPRINT

From the main SD Card Circuit, I removed the SD card holder from it and it reveals some pads that connect the SD card to the silicon wafer which is inside the epoxy cover.

there are a total of 8 pads that connect to an SD Card in this manner.

So the best option was to hand solder a few solid core wires with connector pin pads so I made this custom footprint that consists of a CON8 Pad on the SD CARD side and a CON4 Pad on the USB Side.

I then added the custom footprint to the PCB Design.

FOOTPRINT FOR SD CARDHOLDER

After making the custom footprint for the SD card circuit, I then prepared yet another footprint but this time it was of a generic SMD SD Card Holder that I got from a seller.

I followed the SD Card Holder's datasheet and prepared the footprint and then added it to the PCB Design.

I connected the SD Card Holder pins with the CON8 so the external SD card holder that I added gets paired with the SD Card Circuit.

FOOTPRINT FOR USB PCB

Now, this was a tricky one.

I saw a few examples over the internet in which people just make the USB Pin pads on a PCB and then add solder to it which increases the board thickness and then it can get connected with any USB port.

I did the same thing by making the USB Footprint in my OrCAD PCB SUite and then added this USB Design to the PCB's CON4 pin.

See the below schematic for more details.

PCBWAY

After completing the design, I uploaded the Gerber data on PCBWAY's quote page, I selected the solder mask color which was Black and placed the order.

I choose Black Soldermask as BATMAN loves the black color, he's into the darkness I guess.

After placing the order, I received the PCBs in a week and the PCB quality was pretty great, really loved how each detail I made in this PCB was proper and perfect.

You can checkout PCBWAY from here- www.pcbway.com

PCB ASSEMBLY

PCB Assembly for this board was pretty simple, it only contains two componenets that need to be soldered.

On the top layer, there's the SD card Holder that is an SMD component so I first added Solder paste to its pad and then added the whole board on my DIY SMT hotplate for reflow.

After a Few mins when the hotplate reaches the Solderpaste melting TEMP, the component will get soldered by this Hot Reflow process.

We then remove the PCB from the Hotplate to cool down the component and board surface.

Next, I added the SD Card Circuit from the bottom side by placing it in its assigned place and then adding solder pins one by one to the pad in front of it.

I followed the below wiring diagram to connect the SD Card Circuit with CON8 and CON4.

After this, I added solder to USB Pins to make the thickness of the USB from 1.5mm to 2mm which can then be added to any USB port without a fitment issue.

RESULT

Now here's the overall result and yes, this setup is working. I added this BatDrive on my Laptop's USB Port and open the contents of the SD card that I've added to this device I made.

BATMAN FILES FROM THE MOVIE

Now, this is totally for fun. I downloaded all the contents from Riddler's website and added them into the SD card so whenever I plug this device into my computer, Ridler stuff that he arranged for batman shows up, and it's freaking awesome.

https://www.rataalada.com/

IMPROVEMENT and what's next?

I will add epoxy to the SD Card circuit in order to completely secure it in its place. also, I'm going to prepare a proper SD card in the next version of this project by using a proper SD Card IC and stuff.

Till then stay tuned and thanks for reading this article.

DO check out my other projects if you're into fun and easy-to-make stuff.

And I'll be back with something cool pretty soon!

Peace out