15 Nov
2013
15 Nov
'13
11:49 a.m.
OK Folks,
We've been talking about selling electronics kits as a revenue source basically since
forever.
I've been going back and forth on a design concept and am converging on one that
achieves the folowing compared to other Arduino clones:
A) lower cost
B) more power
C) increased hackability
basically the controller chip hooked straight up to an array of 7x 500mA power
transistors, with a heavy duty voltage regulator of voltage range selectable at time of
purchase
I am heading to sudo in a few minutes to draft a design for the first generation board,
schematics of which which I'll send out in about an hour. If anyone is around sudo or
near email and wants to collaborate, I'm using http://fritzing.org/download/ software
which I just installed last night but seems to err on the side of being easy to use.
Working capital requirements for this will not be very prohibitive, but I think a
Kickstarter campaign would be a good way to get enough to bring costs down even further,
not to mention get the word out. Who's good at those? I'll do the legwork, just
need some tips&tricks.
Cheers,
Hol
15 Nov
15 Nov
1:24 p.m.
Hol,
Consider putting an H-bridge on the board also. Nice for bi-directional
applications.
Also think about MOSFETS instead of traditional power transistors as they
have lower forward resistance and dissipate less power
Steve.
On Friday, November 15, 2013, Hol Gaskill wrote:
--
-steve
1:51 p.m.
New subject: Sudouino Microcontroller
Here's the schematic of what I have so far, with some capacitor values needing to be
changed and headers need to be properly modeled, and the FTDI chip will not be onboard,
just have it shown attached for now. The ULN2003 unit cost is low - it is good for
running 2 separate strips of RGB LEDs or turning on pumps and solenoids and whatnot with
up to 500mA per channel. Do you know of power mosfet arrays that come together in one IC?
If there's interest in choosing an H bridge instead of an array of NPN transistors, we
could do that first, or do both at the same time and give people the option. Attached are
2 pics of a utility power-output board I've been using with great success for general
purpose power output that gives a little design heritage of the ULN2003 case.
One question is - do we make it breadboard friendly or arduino shield friendly? That will
definitely drive PCB layout. Also, should we do it all through-hole or should we shop
around for SMD fabrication services? My inclination is to do through hole and sell as a
kit, or assembled. Makes it a bit more accessible at a small space and weight expense.
Thoughts? Also soliciting ideas for logos :)
Cheers,
Hol
Nov 15, 2013 01:24:58 PM, steveberl(a)gmail.com wrote:
Hol,
Steve.
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3 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
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Hol Gaskill -
Matthew Senate -
Steve Berl