Why Is it Called a Breadboard?
Breadboards were originally wood boards on which bread dough was kneaded and the finished loaves were sliced. Today, they are plastic prototype boards with three binding posts, two power buses, black aluminum plate backing, using both analog and digital circuitry.
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Early Days
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In the early days of electronics, amateur radios were built on wooden boards, sometimes actual breadboards. Often a paper schematic diagram was glued on the board to show where the wired connections should be made. Copper wires, vacuum tubes, capacitors and other components were connected on the board.
The Sixties
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In the 1960s, patents described wooden plate breadboards with mounted coil springs and binding posts. It was on this type of breadboard that the first computer circuits were designed. Gradually, wooden boards were replaced by manufactured plastic ones.
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Today
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Today, reusable plastic breadboards, or plugboards, are used to connect electronic components together. Wires for the different components are plugged into spring-loaded clips that are connected in an electronic grid throughout the breadboard. Many breadboards have numbers or red, green and blue lines to indicate the circuits.
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References
- Photo Credit computer keyboard image by vashistha pathak from Fotolia.com
