A machine that might change how small businesses and hobbyists manufacture circuit boards has just reached its Kickstarter goals in a matter of minutes:
The Voltera V-One circuit printer, one of our favorite finds at CES this year, just launched its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter — and hit $100,000 in 35 minutes.
The Voltera system provides multiple capabilities: It will print the traces for your prototype circuit board (at 8mil space and trace), dispense solder paste to allow you to place SMD components on professionally manufactured boards, and provide heat for reflowing those electronics onto boards. And it prints multiple layers with a transparent ink.
The extruders on the system pop on and off with magnetic clasps, allowing for easy transitions between materials.
Initially priced at $1499, it is perhaps beyond the reach of many home constructors, but I expect that prices will fall in time and then we can say goodbye to the chemicals and UV lights.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday July 06 2015, @05:43PM
Easy way to answer that -- let's check Newegg! If we ignore the small form factor motherboards which would obviously skip it due to size constraints, we have...
65 total ATX motherboards
23 with 1 PCI slot
39 with 2 PCI slots
7 with 3 PCI slots
So...something is apparently wrong with their filters as we have four more boards with PCI slots than total boards. But it seems *all* the boards have at least one PCI slot, and the vast majority have multiple.
I'm building a new rig soon, and the motherboard I'm currently considering (not because of the PCI slots, as I don't plan to use any) actually has three (ASUS A88X-Plus.)