DIYEFI.org Forum

I have few ideas for guidelines to follow when submitting designs.

There would be two categories: Release and Experimental/development. Release designs would be published on the main website, while experimental would only be available though development forums until transcendence or merger into release designs.

For release category, several goals should be met:

-No ERC issues with the schematics.
-Extensive documentation on the board included in the data download.(level of details still to be worked out, explaining every single component might not be purposeful)
-Full schematics, PCB's and BOM available. Preferably the gerber files should be available too.
-Board sizes under 100x160mm, under 100x80mm preferably, except for "exotic" boards.
-Multi layered and SMD boards only in conjunction with 2-layer through hole designs.
-Brief description for quick reference, more detailed for additional information
-Designs submitted for release will be peer reviewed before acceptance to Release category

I don't think the actual designer files would be required, since there are several different EDA packages available and for the most parts they aren't compatible.

The development files would have different goals:

-No ERC requirements until board design phase
-Incremental documentation, only the changes/additions to be documented in the submission, and a referring link if beginning a new thread.
-If new components and footprints (ie. not present in distributed libraries) are added, full description of them.
-all designer files should be included in the submission

Order of preference in EDA designer software:

KiCAD: Open source, multiplatform (Linux, Win, MacOS X)
gEDA: Open Source, limited platform (Linux, MacOS X)
Other packages with appropriate licenses. Note that Eagle is free for non-commercial use, so strictly speaking no board done with free eagle would be eligible to be kitted.

This is outlined proposal to hardware submission guidelines, it must be worked on still. Comments, suggestions?

I have a few comments :

1. Why limit board size? Probably no one will want to design or build huge boards, BUT, it may be desirable for some users to put everything on a larger single board in an old car amp case or something. what is the next size up? 300x300 is the largest blank board you can get in many hobby type places, perhaps if we were going to limit such a thing, limiting it as little as possible would be a good idea.

2. I think the design files should be available, there is zero point duplicating effort re entering the same schematics in order to knock out an altered design based on the submitted one.

3. Provided 2. is met, I can't see a reason to limit multi layer boards to have to include 2 layer counterparts. If someone likes the concept but wants to DIY it, then they can take the design files and fix it to work in 2 layers.

4. I think the TAPR OHL license should be included with both types of submission such that others can pick it up and run with it if they feel the need. Competition is a healthy thing.

5. If new components are added, the files and specs for them should be included such that others can start using those (just as you have done with the adapt footprint)

Some very good ideas there, thanks for sharing :-)

Admin.

Also, with regards to specific tools, the reason Free Open Source tools are preferred is because it puts further design extension and modification in reach of those from less well off back grounds than ourselves.

With this in mind, it is fine to use a fully licensed version of Eagle to create board designs for use in kits. Just not the "free" version.

Admin.

Yeah, no problems with appropriately licensed Eagle. The board size matter could be dropped altogether, but I'd keep the 100x160 a recommendation.

Few more ideas I had, should there be a reference file for certain design considerations, such as how wide should traces be for given currents, what sort of noise suppression should be use with what components and so on.. .not as much a rulebook but indeed a reference guide and knowledge base for recommended design features.

If you construct such a thread, I will sticky it. Probably best to discuss these things here first though. I have no idea what the correct track widths are, but I could calculate it. I do know that it depends on the weight of copper on the particular board.

I agree that 100x160 is a nice size to base projects around. You can actually fit quite a lot on there too.

Admin.

So can we use any PCB design soft ware aslong as its free?

I use PCB123 software i have ordered 6x4in 4 layer boards from them it took less than a week from the time i sent the order to the time they was at my door step (this was 4 layer solder mask,silk screen on top,1oz copper) and they were 45.00US a piece .

Another nice thing is i know the price before i even order the boards all i do is select the size board i want to make and the price is in the screen how much they will be for each design.

The software is free but you have to order your boards through Sunstone Circuits or you can buy the gerber files from them once your design is done .

Im downloading the Kicad software now but im more familiar with PCB123.

It should probably be clarified :

You are welcome (of course) to use any tool you like to produce boards, however in the interests of sharing and everyone having input on the standard main board, it would be preferable to use something that anyone can use.

The plan is to hose the schematic and board files on the site for anyone to download and have printed or print themselves. Certainly it would be ideal if the whatever format the designs were in, it was OK for others to copy them and make their own anyway.

IE, if you can use PCB123, go for it! :-)

Admin.

Ok sounds good to me i will give the Kicad a whirl and see if i can get the hang of it and help out any way i can.

And if anybody in the states want a PBC123 board made up i will help them out on that also.

The problem I had with PCB123 software (besides my ignorance) was finding templates for automotive related items; such as automotive ECU connectors, automotive relay sockets and fuse holders, etc. Do these now exist?

I was trying to make a power distribution board for my project and gave up when I could not find these templates.

Thanks!

Karl

BTW DigiKey and Mouser are where I usually shop for these things.

I make all my own footprints up in PCB123 . Is there a specific footprint you need?