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Portland State University Electronics Prototyping Lab |
The EPL is a lab for rapidly prototyping electronics projects. It is meant for students to be able to walk in with an idea and walk out with a fully functioning prototype.
The EPL is on the lower level of the PSU Fourth Avenue Building (FAB) at 1900 SW 4th Avenue in room FAB 84-20.
Checkout Pay for things here.
Please consider donating to the lab to help us further our growth. We are a 501c3 and your donation is tax deductible! Email epl@pdx.edu to donate!
**We also have a discord server for students to interact with our managers. You can ask questions about your projects, resources, Analog Discovery 2's, etc. Join us on discord here
This link will lead you to the ECE lab resources page. That resource page can bring you to more information on what components are required for each lab, what components are in a tool box, and other resources and useful guides for students. Checkout here.
Online locker rentals are temporarily on hold while we rework the rental system. If you need a locker immediately, visit the store in person or send us an email epl@pdx.edu.
We understand that many students will still need to do prototyping. Here's a list of online vendors that will be able to help you complete your projects remotely, besides from the obvious ebay, Newegg, and Amazon.
| Site | Notes |
|---|---|
| Circuit Boards | |
| OSH Park | up to 4-layer PCBs, fast turnaround, 1.6 mm and 0.8 mm boards, flex boards |
| OSH Stencils | stainless steel and polyimide stencils |
| JLCPCB | SMT population, lots of board options, stencils |
| 4PCB | |
| Electronic Components | |
| Digikey | good pricing, normally excellent selection (impacted by COVID-19), excellent part search |
| Mouser | |
| 3D Parts | 3D printing, CNC machining, injection molding, sheet metal, instant quotes from CAD |
| Rapidmade | local to Portland, many other services, instant quotes for 3D prints only |
| Protolabs | high quality, kind of picky |
| 3D Hubs | cheap/popular, brokers to small shops, severely delayed shipping due to COVID-19 |
| Xometry | good 3D printing, brokered machining |
| Mechanical Components | |
| McMaster-Carr | large markups, good selection, very easy to find what you need, sells components and tools |
| MSC Direct | decent prices, very good selection, poor interface |
| Metal Supermarkets | metal stock, cut to size, minimal processing available |
| TAP Plastics | plastic stock, cut to size, minimal processing available, also sells tools |
- View our Lab Equipment and read the instructions on the equipment you want to use.
- Check the calendar for office hours.
- Come in during those hours and get trained by a manager on the equipment you want to use.
- Be sure you've signed a liability waiver!
- Once you're trained on a something, you can come in during any office hours and use that equipment.
- Pay for parts, materials, and equipment time online.
- When you've been trained on ALL the equipment you're eligible to become a manager.
- This gives you 24 hour card key access, although it does come with a lot of responsibility.
- Click here to get started.
This calendar tells you which managers are on-duty and when. You can only use the lab when supervised by a manager. {% include calendar_lab.html %}
Read the documentation on our machines, policies, services, and more to learn about the EPL.
Here is the list of equipment and its current status. Sometimes machines break. When they do, we'll be sure to make a note of it here. Click on a machine to jump to its documentation.
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The lab is currently open to the Portland State students from any department.
The lab is also open to the greater Portland community members by invitation only.
Here are some links to commonly visited pages:
- Equipment The tools we have at our disposal.
- Checkout Pay for things.
- Lab Policies The rules of the EPL.
- 3D Print Your Part Turn ideas into things!
- Workshops Learn how to make things.
- Become a Manager Help other people make things!
- Managers Only Stuff to help you be a manager.
- Site Tree Everything on this website.
- Style Guide Learn how to maintain this website.
- Sponsors Cool people who give us money! ❤️💰