Printed Circuit Board (PCB)

The idea behind selling the PCB’s is that many schools use them as Design Technology projects for their students.  At the beginning of the project they will be given a PCB and the challenge to come up with a creative case to hold the memory chip.  This is a great way to help develop the students creativity and give them a useful data storage device at the end of it.  We have recently come across another use for the PCB’s.

A very interesting use for PCB’s is DeadDrops, a growing, offline, peer-to-peer file sharing movement.  DeadDrops involves securing a USB memory chip in a discrete public place stored with some files that you want to share.  The PCB’s are usually put in wall using cement – they need to be secured quite tightly.  A wall is not the most comfortable place to access the USB drive, the DeadDrops site has a lot of images and videos with people using their laptops, quite uncomfortably whilst holding them next to the wall.  The location of the PCB can then be uploaded to the DeadDrops blog and people can visit the street of the DeadDrop and try to find the USB.  Files can then be downloaded and uploaded onto the flash drive making it an off-line file sharing system.

Rabbit PCB USB Example

Finding a random USB flash drive cemented into the wall does seem like quite an interesting discovery and it would be interesting to hook your laptop up to it to find out what was stored on there.  Although a cool concept, it is quite pointless, but it does seem to have attracted a cool community of followers.  The DeadDrops blog also shows a video of people loading some data onto a USB flash drive attached to some balloons and letting it loose into the sky.  No doubt the idea is that someone will find this, open the files on the drive, find out what it is about and be expected to release the USB back into the sky for someone else to find.

We don’t condone damaging public property for placing USB’s but DeadDrops is certainly a creative use for PCB’s and we think that many pupils can come up with cases and applications just as imaginative.  PCB’s can be supplied in any memory size from 64MB up to 16GB.  To find out more visit our PCB product page and our Branded Memory Sticks for Schools and University’s Page.  If you would much prefer that we used our creativity to develop a custom USB memory stick to give to customers then get in touch.

There are typically three parts to a flash drive:

• Male type-A USB connector – provides an interface to the host computer.

• USB mass storage controller – implements the USB host controller. The controller contains a small microcontroller with a small amount of on-chip ROM and RAM.

• NAND flash memory chip – stores data. NAND flash is typically also used in digital cameras.

A typical flash memory device has a housing including a small printed circuit board (PCB), and an integral connector for connecting to a USB port on a computer. The USB flash drive is connected to a computer either by direct connection or via a USB hub. When plugged into a USB port, the computer’s operating system recognizes the flash memory device as a removable drive and allows data to be retrieved from and added to the flash memory drive. Most flash drives require no other external power source or battery power source as they become active when connected with a computer.

Computers access modern flash memory systems very much like hard disk drives, where the controller system has full control over where information is actually stored.

Nothing actually moves in a flash drive: the term drive persists because computers read and write flash-drive data using the same system commands as for a mechanical disk drive, with the storage appearing to the computer operating system and user interface as just another drive.

In a nutshell, this means because USB memory sticks need no batteries and have no moving parts, they are significantly more reliable and robust compared to older storage technologies such as floppy disks and CDR/DVD-ROM media.

The USB connector is usually protected by a removable cap or by retracting into the body of the drive, although it is not likely to be damaged if exposed. Most flash drives use a standard type USB connection allowing you to plug into a port on a personal computer, but drives for other interfaces also exist.

The flash memory chips themselves are usually made in China and Taiwan by manufacturers such as Samsung, Micron, Hynix and Intel or other OEM brands. The chips are then assembled into the memory sticks and often branded with a customer’s logo. Click here to see a showcase of promotional USB memory sticks supplied by USB2U.

Recycled or B Grade flash is common in such a price driven market so it is always worth checking with your supplier exactly who the flash was manufactured by. At USB2U we only use the highest grade quality chips for all of our Flash drives. Be very cautious with some companies who offer Flash drives for discounted prices incorporating B Grade chips. These types of Flash drives will only last a dozen or so times before they break or become unstable.

USB Flash drives are now an incredibly popular way of storing and carrying data and their utility has driven their use in the Promotion and Incentives market where branded USB Memory Sticks have become one of the mainstays of the industry