Mounting the DFRobot mmWave RADAR

Posted: December 8, 2023 | | Categories: Internet of Things (IoT)

A while back, I started building a project using the DFRobot mmWave RADAR. However, as I described in IoT Component Manufacturers Ignoring Mounting Needs, I had some trouble figuring out how to mount the device in my project.

After I published that article, I spoke with the product team at DFRobot and they informed me that they build that sensor expecting it to be mounted inside a commercial product. So it doesn't have an easy way to mount because my use case is different.

My project is the Sleeping Dragon in a Mailbox project that I was supposed to finish for Halloween this year, but ran out of time due to hardware incompatibilities (a long story that I'll write about later). I needed a way to mount the mmWave device on top of the sign and I finally decided on a simple implementation.

Adafruit makes a quarter-sized Perma-Proto breadboard PCB that's just the right size for my purposes. I ordered some right-angle female headers and soldered them to the breadboard as shown in the following image.

With male headers soldered to the mmWave device, the RADAR points to the front as I needed it for my project.

Next, soldered the connections from the ESP32 device I'm using for this project.

Finally, I mounted the Perma-Proto board on top of the Sleeping Dragon sign.

I could have done more to hide the wires and I definitely should have painted the Perma-Proto board black, but this solved my mounting issue and aims the mmWave device right where I want.

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Header image: Photo by Robin Glauser on Unsplash.