## Lab 0: Introduction
This writeup is a brief reflection of my experience procuring and assembling the featherwing hardware components required of this course.

### Part 0: Parts

I ordered all relevant parts from [DigiKey](digikey.com). The only issue here, was the tripler proto board was on back-order, and I only realized this after placing the order. I contacted customer service, and I was able to swap this parts for the quadruple board.

![order.jpg](./order.jpg)

### Part 1: Inventory

All parts arrived as expected

![inventory.jpg](./inventory.jpg)

### Part 2: Assembly

Now was the time to start soldering. Though I already have had experience soldering, I decided to solder the kit at the EPL lab under the supervision of Chris and the other helpful EPL staff. 

![./me.jpg](./me.jpg)

#### Part 2a: Soldering Standoffs to the quad-board

While looking at the reference board provided, I started soldering the various rows of standoffs to the quad board

The first couple rows went relatively well

![solder1.jpg](./solder1.jpg)

![solder2.jpg](./solder2.jpg)

As I continued on, I realized there was a slight problem. As it turns out, I had my board up-side down in regards to the reference board. This was problematic, as it meant that when inserting the feathers into the standoffs, pins would be missed on the shorter 12 pin rows. Rather than de-solder and start over, the better solution was to cut small 4 pin standoffs, and solder them in the gaps, effectively making the board ambidextrous

![./solder3.jpg](./solder3.jpg)

![./solder4.jpg](./solder4.jpg)

With this solution, I can now see that all the feather boards will properly seat by pre-inserting the pin headers to the standoffs


#### Part 2b: Soldering pin headers to the feather boards

With more time and concentration, I was able to solder the three feather boards to the pin headers. In one regard, this was easier due to less worry about alignment and tolerance, but it also required a more steady hand due to avoiding nearby components and the screen

![./solder5.jpg](./solder5.jpg)

#### Part 2c: Power on test
With all of the solder work now done, it was time for a quick power test. 

![./power.jpg](./power.jpg)

Here, we see the pi feather board does indeed power on, with the LED indicator light. The LED gradually changes between red, green and blue (not shown).

Technically, this test does not indicate full success of the soldering effort as this could only be confirmed by a full power and communication evidence seen by the other two feather boards. However, we know that we probably did not break the pi feather board which is a good sign. At this point, we can proceed to the next lab. 