The Ultimate Breadboard Platform?

Breadboards are essential to early electronics prototyping, but they’re not without their frustrations. Once a circuit gets too complicated, you quickly run out of space, and actually supplying the correct voltage can be inconvenient. As an answer to these challenges, Ian Dunn of Bolt Industries has developed the Overboard Breadboard.

Dunn's Overboard Breadboard consists of an FR-4 PCB material backing plate, which fits four interlocking breadboards on top, plus a variable voltages supply. This backing plate not only provides a place for the breadboards, but includes a generous border around the perimeter, with electrics references a la PCB ruler. In fact, this border includes an actual ruler, so one might alternatively consider it a PCB ruler gone (way) overboard.

The voltage supply is certainly a nice feature, but what is really appealing is the amount of prototyping space the setup gives you. It also looks like an extremely good way to move your circuits from place to place without issue. The Overboard Breadboard is funding on Kickstarter as of this writing, with reward-level pledges starting at $25 for a power supply kit only, to $200 for five full breadboard kits.

Of course, you might say to yourself four breadboards is all you’ll ever need, or even that four is too much space. Given how things work with USB ports and other such items, the rule seems to be that you always need just one more of item x. In that case, you could jumper a few kits together, though that would be a truly epic project!