JLCPCB version of project (for fully-assembled boards) #52
Replies: 5 comments 16 replies
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Great job man, well done! TI is better-priced and has better specs, so it's also the first choice for me as well in the revision board. I'm waiting for the boards to arrive so I can verify everything works as intended before updating the repo, it's been a month now and still nothing :-| Differential pairs were done like this to compensate a bit for the difference in length of the traces on the pico pcb itself, so the total would match and more or less hit the target impedance. Since it's not hi speed (480) but full speed (12) at best, and given how short the traces are, I believe this shouldn't be a problem either way... Are these USB-A connectors available in Europe anywhere? Let me know how your assembled boards turn out from JLC as well as the final price of an assembled board - any scenario where the final board is cheaper and more accessible to people is great! Thank you! |
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I've just put the first board from this batch (assembled at JLCPCB) into production on my desk and it's working perfectly! I've got 9 more boards to program and test this weekend which will be going out to friends once their cases arrive. |
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So because I'm a little crazy I decided to attempt to design a version where all the parts are directly on the board (no Picos involved). I have a schematic done but not yet verified, it's attached. I've begun working on the PCB but that will probably take a couple of weeks to get right. It's intended to be 100% software compatible with the existing design, but has lots of hardware changes:
The projected BOM cost for this configuration is about US$6.25, which means fully assembled boards in quantity 10 orders would probably be about US$10 each. Because of the connector changes the case would also need some redesign, but it should be straightforward. Since I'm enjoying doing this I'm going to continue with the PCB layout and then will publish it all in a branch in my fork; I have no idea whether I'll ever get any boards like this manufactured, but if it turns out there is interest in a low-cost version that is fully assembled it might be worth going this direction. |
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Just used your fork to send off an order at JLCPCB, worked pretty smoothly apart from the Picos being rotated 270° incorrectly (easy enough to fix in their placing confirmation tool). As for the USB-C version, I kind of disagree with this being the default (or atleast provide both A and C schematics), as most keyboards and mice still use USB-A as it's way more secure and they are components that usually never/rarely get disconnected in common setups. The merging of the Pico and the PCB is a great idea, especially for getting finished products pre-assembled like from JLCPCB, but again should be optional if your fork would be merged in. |
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My idea was to isolate one USB port only, with either ADuM3160 or a significantly cheaper WCH CH315G. This would have a similar isolation effect but without the different power domains for the two picos. This would resolve the issue where you need to have both devices plugged in, but also split the 500 mA power budget between the rp2040s and keyboard + mouse, which I wouldn't consider a problem 10 years ago, but nowadays with all the RGB stuff going around... Also, ADuM is quite expensive and WCH is only available through LCSC and similar suppliers, not really guaranteeing for a stable supply... so it's still on the drawing board :) |
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I've made a fork of this project at https://github.com/kpfleming/deskhop; the changes I made were to make it easy to order fully-assembled boards from JLCPCB.
Changes:
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