Simon Monk built prototypes for his projects on breadboards but felt that protoboards that were available didn’t have what he needed. Taking the Adafruit Permaproto board as inspiration he developed the MonkMakes Protoboard as a new prototyping board that will facilitate makers in their small projects and proof of concept work.
Monk is currently running a successful Kickstarter campaign for the MonkMakes board, and his campaign video presents the best features of the board and a few possible end uses for makers. MonkMakes still has a solderless breadboard layout but there are spaces on the side for connections that are generally too large or too busy for a breadboard. Some areas have a footprint for specific components like an audio jack, voltage regulator, screw terminals or DC barrel jacks. Other spots have additional space for 2x4 or 2x5 pins. Solder jumpers are also included if a user wants to supply power to the supply rails of a project.
The campaign page has a few examples of Monk using his new tool in creation of projects. While building an energy monitor for solar panels Monk soldered connectors onto a MonkMakes board and then placing a solderless breadboard onto his protoboard. This is his general new starting point for projects.
MonkMakes is a great example of a very low stakes Kickstarter campaign asking for a small amount of money ($1,228 – already well past the funding point) for a production run of components. The board itself looks like it would solve several of the frustrations I’ve had when working with small electronics projects, where the space allotted for what I’m trying to do doesn’t match my ambitions or fine motor skills. The campaign video itself isn’t polished and market tested but instead Simon Monk talking to a camera and demonstrating his new tool. The funding period ends on September 15, 2016 and boards are expected to ship in October.