tempestvr
patreon
Any PCB designers in the house?
🕑 Added 2024-11-06 19:47:18 +0000 UTCHi guys,
This is a callout to anyone in our community that has PCB design skills.
As you know, I am currently working on a design for SSR1 Beta. This will be a clean-sheet overhaul of the design that will make the mechanism far more compact and simpler to assemble, as well as a number of other physical enhancements.
I am expecting that I will be speccing the ESP32-S3-Zero as the microcontroller for Beta, which is much more compact than the Devkit v1 used on the Alpha design. Unfortunately however this does not reduce the number of electronic components or connections needed to make the device work. To build an SSR1 Beta the homebuilder will still need to have the same soldering and wiring skills.
What I would love to be able to do is offer a single open source PCB that incorporates all of the key parts of the SSR1 electronics. That is, the ESP32, the DRV8313 (motor controller), the MT6701 or AS5048a (encoder), and the USB-C trigger module.
If we were able to integrate all of these components onto a single PCB design then literally all the homebuilder would have to do is mount the board, plug in the motor and flash the firmware. It would make SSR1 an incredibly accessible design to users of all skill levels. They could order the custom PCB from a PCB manufacturing service, or from one of our community's many sellers.
I don't have the skillset needed to merge all of these breakout PCBs into a single board design immediately to hand and I have my hands full with hardware design at the moment. I might be able to look at it but it will be months away if at all. That's why I'm putting out this call to you guys. I can provide details of the electronics and a board footprint to work from. If there's anyone who would like to have a go at it please get in touch with me. This would be a service to the community that I think as a minimum is worth a lifetime Benefactors' subscription.
In the meantime, stay tuned for news of my next livestream. I have a couple of designs in progress that I am looking forward to showing to you guys.
All the best,
Tempest
Comments
TempestVR
Will DM you.
TempestVR
This is exactly the sort of info that's invaluable to a project like this. I'd love to be able to order the board in a complete state from JLCPCB.
Richard Samuels
Sounds like a fun challenge! You should release a spec publicly and let the community take some time to design it and pick some designs from there. I thought i'd point out that the ESP32-S3-Zero is not available on JLCPCB. The ESP32-S3-MINI-1-N8, with wifi/bluetooth certification, is available. Further, this part doesn't require paying the fee for premium PCB assembly. Can that part be used instead? IF you go with the ESP32-s3-zero, users will probably still have to hand solder.
Austen H-C
I designed a custom servo control board for my SR6. I might eb able to help you out. Ordered a bunch from JLC
