This paper describes a printed circuit board initially designed by the author to eliminate some of the error-prone and clutter-prone jumper and breadboard hardware arrangements that the Fox-1 software team was becoming increasingly dependent on. The initial idea was to provide a motherboard which would provide a place to "plug in" a processor evaluation board as well some of the most important components that were to be on a "real" Fox-1 IHU (Internal Housekeeping Unit) board. As time went on, though, circumstances dictated that the board should turn into more of a general purpose IHU simulator.While the board described in this paper is specific to the Fox-1 satellite, the technique is quite general. Manufacturers provide inexpensive evaluation boards for many kinds of processors and other components. These evaluation boards can be incorporated into a project using this "motherboard" technique with much less design, expense, and surface-mount soldering expertise than would otherwise be required.Some of this paper may be more interesting to those who have had little experience in designing and building printed circuit boards (which was me before this project!) than to those who are already experts.
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