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Aug 27 2014 11:18pm
Quote (Ghot @ Aug 28 2014 01:16am)
http://i.imgur.com/14XO0Nz.png



/e  You're gonna make a robot, next?  :)


Pay for the supplies and I will. Servos and PWM motors are hella expensive.
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Aug 27 2014 11:20pm
Quote (AbDuCt @ Aug 28 2014 01:18am)
Pay for the supplies and I will. Servos and PWM motors are hella expensive.


Lol, I know, but if I paid for the supplies, I'd wanna build it. :(
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Aug 30 2014 07:32pm
Here is a revised version, although not done yet.

http://i.imgur.com/HL6YzzR.png
http://i.imgur.com/0OpA4la.png

J10, J9, J1, J2 are USB input, USB extended (carries the voltage and data over, USB power, USB power. They are all molex connectors which makes them modular and removable.

J3, J4, J5 are molex connectors going to On-On toggle switches via wire leads so you can mount it on the side of a project box.
J6, J7, J8 are molex connectors going to bi color (red/green) 3 lead LEDs. Depending on which side you apply power either red or green will show.
C1 is a main power filter capacitor which smooths the USB power coming from the computer, C2, C3, C4 are voltage spike capacitors that help reduce the sudden spike in voltage when toggling a slot on/off. When working with sensitive hardware, especially a low noise amplifier this is needed (unless you like to live dangerously) as you may fry the components.
R1, R2, R3 are current resistors for the LEDs so that they do not burn out.

This new design is modular now as in if you need static always on power to say J1 and J2, you can apply a bridge to apply power while you can apply a toggle switch to J3 so you can switch J9 on/off. This design also allows for minimal useage of parts if you do not need them. If you do not wish to have status LEDs you can forgo adding them and the PCB will still behave normally.

This design also includes mounting VIAS in which you can mount the PCB to standoffs. The VIAS are connected to the shielding on the USB molex connectors joining them in unison.
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Aug 30 2014 08:08pm






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Aug 31 2014 03:32pm
http://i.imgur.com/7n4KlOx.png

A revised version. I redid the traces by hand which I have to redue a bit more. I'm still not happy with them.

All the unlinked traces have ground seeds so that when I fill the board with a ground plane all the negative/ground sides of all the components will be linked together by one giant copper fill.

Trying to decide if I want to have my shield rail to be attached to the ground plane or if i want the ground/negative attached. I'll have to get a hold of one of my engineering friends to see which would be better. Pretty sure I know the answer already though.
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Sep 1 2014 03:45pm
Final revision of the board: http://i.imgur.com/KLKC9Ytl.jpg

Will most likely send this off to get fabbed unless I find something in the next few days that is absolutely crippling the board.

I got some free samples of connectors/headers coming in so I will most likely print out the traces/silkscreen and push the headers through the paper to make sure everything will line up. After that I will send it to a fab house in china to get made. I found a cheap good quality place that does 10 boards for 15-20$ for colored PCB and 10-15$ for generic green PCB.

Things that this board does:
1) Takes a single USB input and splits it into 3 outputs (1 with data/power, 2 with just power)
2) Uses a capacitor on the power lines on the input to smooth out the current coming from the USB input
3) Allows you to control the on/off state of each output individually via switches (or grouped if you use a multi pole switch)
4) Uses a capacitor for each switch to smooth out the voltage spike that happens when you switch on or off a output (to protect sensitive equipment from damage)
5) Has output status Bi color LEDs to show the status of the current switched output. It will turn the LED one color when turned off, then switch colors when the switch is turned on

My next step after I get my parts and send this PCB to the fab house is sourcing a case for all my hardware. I was thinking about custom milling an aluminum case for this but that may be a bit difficult. I'm sure I can find some prefabbed cases somewhere. A friend suggested lining a plastic project box with copper tape, but that feels a bit cheap.
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Sep 1 2014 03:50pm


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Sep 2 2014 01:31am
You should build a Tesla Coil.
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Sep 2 2014 09:54pm
Just found a cheaper good quality pcb manufacturer from china with good reviews. Although my board is 60x40 and their only options is 50x50 and 50x100, which means since I can't fit this into 50x50 I have an extra 10x40 millimeters of space to use up which is a fucking lot.

I need to re-plan this pcb to either modify it to have two copies on the same 50x100 pcb with close spaced via holes so I can snap the pcb so that I get double my monies worth, or I can add extra features like remote battery power or some sort of circuit protection.

Although just to put it in perspective on the price difference. If I went with my old company I would of got 3 boards for 20$ for a 40x60 board. With this new company I get 10 boards for 25$ for a 50x100 board. The obvious choice is obvious.

Also just to show how much extra space we are talking about here, here is a image of the same final pcb but with a expanded board to use the entire 50x100 workspace.

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Sep 2 2014 10:37pm
Quote (Halfdead14 @ Sep 2 2014 03:31am)
You should build a Tesla Coil.


THIS big time. :)
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