Dev boards

[AtomSoft]

Hi everyone havent been here in a while i know. Sorry. Having 3 kids, moving 3 times and worked 3 different jobs... (hah all 3's) can lead to having little to no time. But i seem to be settling down now and i wanted to ask my fellow members and community...

What would you like to see on a dev board?
Some basic components like OLED, LEDs, BTNS etc..

Check out my blog, link below. I created a small dev board and wanted some feedback.
I want to know what people think and what they would find useful.
What MCUs are more popular these days.

AtomDev

Ok this is my first new dev board in a while and I’m trying to actually consider the term Dev.. meaning Development… There seems to be a ton of breakout and so called “Dev.”…

atomsoft.wordpress.com

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

Dev boards are generally aimed at specific usage, for e.g. Microchip sell many different boards, general/multi purpose such as the Picdem version with various input sensor devices, to the more specific aimed at either BLDC or DC motor control.
The Picdem has various sized sockets for different pic's, fortunately Picmicro's have a fairly standard I/O pin definitions across part No.'s.
The other popular ones are made by Olimex etc.
Although I found the problem with these, (Olimex) is they do not have an easily way of creating connections for external devices to the micro itself.
Max.

 

[AtomSoft]

Thanks for the tip. Ive tried to make my dev board more like the MikroE type. Where as you can change MCU. i plan to add a CLICK type feature as well. The issue with MikroE is they are really expensive. But they are beautiful.

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

With the availability of free schematic capture S/W (Kicad etc) and the low cost of having boards made out of China, it is relatively ease to acquire a range of different boards.
Max.

 

[AtomSoft]

Yeah that's true. But time is a huge factor also. People have to waste time when designing and testing. Then sending a board out to get made then at usual.. 1 week to get a board back then if there's an issue.. it's a hassle for some. Having a dev board sheds weeks off development time. Not to mention the cost of pain killers for those headaches that will come when you make a mistake or the board house does.

It's nice to have a couple frequently used items on one board you can decide to use or not. No need to breadboard stuff and then being able to use different mcus. It makes development of firmware and software on PC quick. So you can focus on a end product or just test ideas without having to make smaller pcbs

 

[be80be]

Yell I just done a board with USB came back looking great. I can breed broad it and its works fine I got 10 PCB that are useless
They some how ended up with the usb tracks
Under the crystal pads no buggy tho
I'm make them over

But your board idea looks great

 

[AtomSoft]

Thanks be80be, yeah. I know mistakes.. I actually had REV 2 done of my board with USB C connector and totally forgot the PULL DOWN resistors for the CCx lines.. ugh lost $4 but fixed it now and also added some other stuff.

Mind if i ask what the USB boards you made are for? Im noisy but mainly because i love getting ideas. If its secret then no problem buddy. Also if you have any ideas for me please let me know. I know im not here much but i do love the community.

 

[be80be]

No secret there usb to serial for some esp2866 boards

 

[Mike - K8LH]

Thanks be80be, yeah. I know mistakes.. I actually had REV 2 done of my board with USB C connector and totally forgot the PULL DOWN resistors for the CCx lines.. ugh lost $4 but fixed it now and also added some other stuff.

You getting boards made for $4, Jason? Where, please?

btw... nice to see you again, Sir. hope you and family are well...

 

[Visitor]

Check out JLCPCB.com, Elecrow.com and many other Chinese vendors are offering 10 boards for $5.

 

[Mike - K8LH]

Thank you... I use JLCPCB now and boards typically cost $2 to $5 but shipping adds quite a bit to the cost...

Jason... If you're interested... My last PCB was for a Retro Computer with a CDP1802 processor.