Puma board for FreeEMS

[Fred]

Awesome work mate! :-)

[jharvey]

That's way cool, glad to hear it works and keep up the good work.

[jharvey]

Well my python skills are poor, and it's talking me quite a while to get this script drafted. I'm also busy for most of today, so I won't be able to work on it. I figured I'd post the script I have such that perhaps someone can either help, or give me some pointers.

The goal here is a script that will update components such that the schematic BOM makes accurate BOM's with ref designators and such.

Also I look forward to hearing from Macro's about how PUMA is going. Yipeee!

[fifty]

Just in-case you haven't see the plastic stencils, this company makes them.

http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/446

I've used them, and on low qty / low cost, they do OK. I see many advantages of steel stencils. These do OK for hobby and hand populated proto's.

http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/58

Solder paste: http://www.stencilsunlimited.com/solder_paste.php
Squeegee: http://www.stencilsunlimited.com/squeegee_blades.php

[nitrousnrg]

Finally I have my camera back:

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3006/dsci0036c.jpg

EDIT: 1024x768 for threads, or make it a link, or use a thumbnail :-p I made it a link.

That is pretty much how a board looks (yes, there were bridges there).
Add 4 capacitors and it is ready to be programmed with the SM. Since I didn't had those capacitors in a SMD format, I put through hole. You can see that in the building diary.

For spin2:
*change the USB connector to a mini usb
* change the CPU 5v regulator
* probably remove fuses
* put a bigger D1 diode

[nitrousnrg]

I took a look at jharvey's script (thanks man!), I'll probably play with it when I have no internet connection.

[Fred]

Finally I have my camera back:

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3006/dsci0036c.jpg

Jesus Christ man! You're rough :-)

Instead of assembling mine, perhaps you could put all the components in a plastic bag and post them to me. Then I could sprinkle them on and drive back and forward over it a few times to attach them. Am I being too harsh? LOL. You might want to customise the init.c file to disable all the output pins and avoid frying your CPU straight off... At least some of the outputs are pulsing on and off all the time. You better hope its not a bridged one.

/me goes to other thread...

Fred.

[jharvey]

That script is a starting point. It doesn't currently modify the files, but displays them to STIO. Theory being that once one updates the the props.sch file, then runs the script, it will update all components of that type. In this case it's written to replace all 1k resistors with a specific mfg, and includes at least one vendor. I probably won't get a chance to look at it again until tomorrow evening. Also I'll raise some caution about what text editor you use to modify the .sch files. I seem to recall that wordpad was bad because it added /n/r, where it appears the original just has /r. Something like nano should be OK, in this case, it direct copies what ever was in the props.sch file, so little oddities like this should be the same as what ever KICAD prefers.

About the reg, why the change? Is it making heat or is it noisy?

Why remove the fusing? I was tempted to suggest we add some overvoltage protection. A common approach is to use an SCR fired by a chip like MC3423P, such that if you have an OV condition, it shorts and blows the upstream fuse.

[jharvey]

JTAG allows boundary scans, often used to check for proper connections of all the potential failure points. It covers solder joints, PCB traces, and internal connections of the pin to the internals of the MCU. I'm fairly ignorant about BDM, does BDM offer a similar test layer? Perhaps with some time those connections can be verified before firing up the MCU?

[jharvey]

What solder paste are you using? Are you using solder paste? Looks like you might have some excess flux building up. Perhaps some flux off might help keep things pretty? Radio shack sells some electronic cleaner that also seems to work well, and can often be picked up local.