Finished a redesign of my first PCB assembly order ever. I'm using JLCPCB and I've ordered the one part in this test design.
I'm waiting for the one part to arrive in their assembly facility in Hong Kong.
This is a 2 layer board to breakout an 8x8 mm DRAM chip with 54 pins so that I can play with it on my breadboard.
This is designed in kicad.
#foss #fosh #pcb #pcba #ee #jlcpcb #ram #dram #freemanufacturing #bce #bcecoop #bcecoopinc #kicad
I'm planning to order my first custom PCB from JLCPCB, which will only have one RAM chip breakout to include on my breadboard prototype. On my breadboard, I've gotten the following working:
- ICE40 FPGA (Architry Cu)
- ESP32-C3 MCU (RISC-V + Wifi/BT)
- OV7670 Camera (640x480 30 FPS)
I'd like to use the FPGA to read the camera data and store it in a RAM. Also, I'd like the MCU to be able to read single pixels at ~1000 Hz from the RAM. I plan to use the FPGA to manage the interface between the MCU and the RAM as well.
At first, my choice of RAM was a small RAM that is hard to find with a long lead time with JLCPCB. Now, I'm planning to use a slightly larger RAM with shorter lead time. This is the RAM part I'm looking at:
The design in the image is the old part. I'm now starting a redesign of the PCB with the new slightly larger RAM.
#foss #fosh #freemanufacturing #bce #bcecoop #bcecoopinc #fpga #mcu #ram #maker #ee #breadboard #prototype #jlcpcb
I've been loosely following FreeCAD as a potential future design tool for my FOSS/FOSH manufacturing. Today, I noticed they added a CNC documentation tutorial. Also, I noticed there is a FOSH CNC maker that seems to be helping to drive the software development.
https://www.mekanika.io/en/blog/cnc-milling/how-to-use-freecad-with-your-cnc-machine
My CNC aluminum router is now in its new robot box. The controller is on the left, so I can operate the machine with the doors closed. Still need to connect vacuum, air compressor, and lubricant, but getting closer! The motors and sensors are working!
#cnc #aluminum #router #maker #foss #fosh #homebusiness #manufacturing #freemanufacturing
If food, shelter, and medicine are the three basic physical human needs, I see these as basic human rights.
I think medicine and medical technology should obviously be an example of Free Manufacturing, based on Free Software and Free Hardware, and free manufacturing processes. I'm excited to explore the space of free medicine in this context.
I'm also excited about how Free Manufacturing can improve access to shelter and food.
#freemanufacturing #freesoftware #freehardware #physicalneeds #humanrights
I'm working on a concept of Free Manufacturing, which is an idea that includes Free Hardware, Free Software, and an idea that anyone anywhere can manufacture products independently, to make a living, or otherwise help their local communities. This is a very rough draft, and I'm very open to feedback.
