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Getting Started
Congratulations on getting a Polystack. Its the most versatile modular microcontrol platform out there! In this guide we'll cover the basics of stacking a Polystack.
- Polystack Power board and included spacers.
- Polystack Control board and included parts.
- Polystack Mod boards and their spacers.
The mechanical structure of a Polystack is the aluminum M3 bolts and nuts that are included with every control board along with the nylon spacers included with every board. The included bolts are 30mm long but you can get different lengths depending on your setup.
Start your Polystack by inserting the four aluminum bolts into the four mounting holes that should be at a 30.5mm x 30.5mm spacing.
Use nylon nuts included with the control board to secure these bolts into the hole. You can do without these nuts if you want a super low profile stack but it can get frustrating assembling the stack when the bolts fall out accidentally.
Now you are ready to stack!
A Polystack starts with a power board. This board provides 5V and up to 2A of power to the boards above. This level may also include a spacer PCB if the power board only has two holes.
The second level of a Polystack is the control board. This is where the microcontroller lives. Its the brains of the operations and connects most of its IO to the Polystack connector, which shuttle informations between all of the mod boards.
Mod boards are the third and higher levels up to seven total. These boards expand the functionality of the Polystack in many different ways such as connecting to a microSD card, integrating other electronics into the stack with a cradle or simply breaking out connections from the connector so that wires can be run elsewhere. Each of these mods includes a little memory so that the controller can autodetect whats connected and configure itself accordingly.