Espruino Pico Adaptor PCBs #1498
Replies: 63 comments
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Posted at 2014-12-12 by DrAzzy Are you planning these for the 0.05" header only, or both? I think for the 0.1" header, many of those things wouldn't need it (like CC3k, RFM, Wiznet, ESP, etc) - just a couple dupont jumpers and you're good. I really like the idea of being able to stick an LCD right on the board - that's also the sort of thing that makes a long more sense on the pico due to the lower price point and smaller footprint. I'd say: Is the list of what pins will be on the 0.5" header finalized? This would have some impact on what things might make sense. What's the footprint of the shield/adapter/coaster* board going to look like? Will it only have one set of 0.05" pin header, or will there be a second set (maybe on the opposite end, rotated 180 degrees) to stack them? Have you tested that the 0.05" pins form a rigid enough connection? Will we need a little rubber bumper or something under the board to keep it from getting damaged wiggling around? *"Coaster"? Arduino has "shields" - what would you put your cup of hot javascript on, if not a coaster? |
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Posted at 2014-12-12 by @gfwilliams It's be both 0.1 and 0.05 - whatever makes sense really. While stuff like the CC3000 is trivial to wire up with just 2 extra wires, I think a lot of people would still appreciate an adaptor - it'd only be around 1cm^2 area, so not too pricey.
The pins are pretty well finalised now. There's 1 I2C, 1.5 USARTs (RX/TX plus one extra RX), GND, 3.3v, 'Bat', and analogs - but no SPI. That's not such a big deal because a lot of the SPI stuff works fine with software SPI though. I think every adaptor will be different - I'd just focus on trying to keep them small - stackability is probably secondary - but it'd be nice to be able to add extra adaptors onto the Arduino shield (the extra space could contain bluetooth/ESP8266/NRF24/etc pads as well). I haven't tested the pins yet - but the Bat/3.3v/Gnd are at right-angles to the other pins, so should add some rigidity. I mentioned on another post, but what do you think about PCB castellations? It's a little late on to add them, but it would be very cool - you could then put your Espruino Pico on your own board (or the Arduino adaptor) without any pins. It could be very low profile then. |
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Posted at 2014-12-12 by DrAzzy Aaah, no SPI? well then, better use an AT24! (AT24 is I2C, AT25 is SPI). Does the SD card work over software SPI? ESP8266 - there are a few other board layouts for this making the rounds, at similar prices to the others. Some of these have castellated pads, which might make them a better choice for our purposes. Re: Castellations - I certainly see the appeal, I think this is a good idea - it would make it just so easy to put the Espruino Pico onto a larger board. I can't see any issues, except maybe a slightly higher risk of accidental shorts. Can this be done without making the board larger? |
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Posted at 2014-12-15 by @gfwilliams
That's the plan - I see no reason why it shouldn't.
Yes... I think the most popular will probably be the pinned one, which is what I'd do initially I think.
I've had a look at this and yes, I think it can be done without increasing the board size. Not it just comes down to whether the PCB manufacturers will do it without charging a load extra. As you say, shorts might be more of an issue, but it's probably not good practice to leave the board floating around uninsulated anyway... |
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Posted at 2014-12-16 by d0773d Intel Edison adapter board with logic level converter for serial communication back and forth from espruino to the edison. :-) For example: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13036 (that uses Arduino) |
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Posted at 2014-12-16 by @gfwilliams I'm not too convinced by that one I'm afraid... Why would you connect to the edison using GPIO, I2C or Serial when you could just use an existing adaptor board and plug the Pico right into USB? Besides, I was planning on selling unpopulated boards - and soldering on that crazy fine pitch connector is going to require some good tools and a lot of skill. |
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Posted at 2014-12-16 by d0773d @gfwilliams At the time I wrote the post I forgot about the USB connectivity :-/ I didn't think it would be popular, but I wanted to mention the idea anyways. |
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Posted at 2015-01-07 by @gfwilliams From DaveCJ:
Also from @allObjects:
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Posted at 2015-01-08 by d0773d @gfwilliams hi, in regards to using the Lora RF Module from that ebay link you posted which looks like it's from/based on HopeRF.... I read at https://openrf.codeplex.com that they aren't reliable. I'm not sure how much truth is in that statement about HopeRF? Are you creating an area specifically for the HopeRF LoRa module in that ebay listing or LoRa modules using the same dimensions? |
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Posted at 2015-01-08 by @gfwilliams Well, DaveCJ (I'm not sure he's on the forum?) said that the RFM69 is a clone of the SX1272, and shares the same footprint - so it should be compatible with other radios. |
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Posted at 2015-01-09 by DrAzzy A MAX31855 thermocouple interface, with spot for screw terminals to connect the thermocouple?
Me neither, and wondering - there's probably some truth to it, but the OpenRF people also seem to be associated with the Whisker LoRa module people, so they'd have a vested interest in spreading FUD on HopeRF. |
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Posted at 2015-01-13 by @gfwilliams And:
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Posted at 2015-01-22 by thomc It would be nice to have a selection of breakout shims for SMT prototyping with I2C chips. Something like: http://www.adafruit.com/product/1212 Would be cheap and make life easier to experiment with new chips. |
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Posted at 2015-01-22 by @gfwilliams Nice idea - thanks! |
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Posted at 2015-01-22 by @allObjects For a TO-92 packaged 11ACxxx/11LCxxx EEPROM a breakout is not even required: it can go directly into the breadboard. On the other hand, more and more manufacturers drop packages for through hole soldering, and having SMT areas on a shield - next larger pads and some through holes - provide great options for proto typing. #PCB |
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by @gfwilliams Does the bluetooth shim have exposed vias? Hopefully it shouldn't, and you don't need tape. But if the vias are exposed I'd tape over just in case. |
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by Jorgen No they are all ok - no exposed vias as I can see. |
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by @gfwilliams Great - it's a per-board setting in Eagle, and I think sometimes I forgot to tweak it. I'm still really interested in an 'uber-shim' with snap-out parts for common devices. I wonder what the most common/useful ones would be?
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by Jorgen As I wrote you by mail - I want exactly to make such a pcb. |
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by @gfwilliams Ahh, but you want to use all at once :) The plan here is to sell a single PCB, but to allow the user to snap it up into several different PCBs, all of which are Shims in their own right. |
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by Jorgen Ah I see - ok - yes this is really a different board :D |
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by DrAzzy Jorgen: Have you seen the protoboard I'm selling on Tindie? since you're looking into making a shim that holds... a lot of stuff... something like this might be useful (I don't know in what quantity you're thinking of working) |
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by Jorgen @drazzy your protoboard is awesome.
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Posted at 2015-06-24 by DrAzzy Awesome, thanks! I'll get those mailed out tonight. That's exactly what it's meant for - testing and development, and one-off projects where making a specialized board is hard to justify. I don't know if others do, but I end up with a lot of often very crude boards being used for a specific purpose (like, ATTiny85/841 grade stuff). I've done one project of that sort with this kind of project board, and it went together a lot faster. |
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Posted at 2015-06-25 by Jorgen Thx @drazzy - looking forward to play with the boards |
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Posted at 2015-07-03 by Jorgen @drazzy thx for shipping them so fast. |
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Posted at 2015-07-12 by RandyHarmon The small footprint is part of what I love about the pico. But it would be really nice to lower the barrier to expansion. What about a stackable shield arrangement? |
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Posted at 2015-07-13 by @gfwilliams Good idea - I think I probably lost sight of this amongst the other options out there. I guess ideally there would be several different versions of the adaptor 'shims' - I already have about 3 different versions for WiFi, but having one that just used the 0.1" pins in a 'stackable' way would be great - same for the other devices. Unfortunately the 0.05" pins on the end can't easily be used - the headers for them are shorter, so don't align with the 0.1" ones. However for a lot of people it wouldn't be such a big deal giving up 2 of the 14 0.1" IOs in order to get WiFi. |
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Posted at 2015-11-21 by d0773d @gfwilliams another adapter board that might be worth making/modifying is an Arduino adapter board with a spot to solder on an esp8266. I've been using the Arduino adapter board with success, but I'm not sure if it's possible to solder down a pico with the esp8266 adapter already soldered onto the pico. |
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Posted at 2015-11-23 by @gfwilliams Good point... There's plenty of space on there. You'd have to use up a few of the Arduino pins for it though as I don't think there are any spare on the Pico. Shame really - I sent the next batch off to be made just last week! I reckon you could put the ESP8266 on there, but you'd need some 0.05" pin strip so you can mount the shim above the Pico rather than underneath it. It'd definitely be a bit fiddly! |
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Posted at 2014-12-12 by @gfwilliams
Hi everyone,
I've been thinking about a set of adaptor PCBs for the Espruino Pico - to make it a bit easier to connect other bits and bobs to it. Hopefully I can get it done as one PCB where you snap off all the different adaptors and then solder pins on them.
Does anyone have any suggestions for adaptors?
Ideas I have so far are:
LCDs like the Nokia 5110 should just solder right on, so won't need an adaptor.
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