Before Starting New Hardware Projects...

From DIY contraptions to sophisticated FreeEMS-specific designs! Plus general hardware development!
Locked
User avatar
Fred
Moderator
Posts: 15431
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:31 pm
Location: Home sweet home!
Contact:

Before Starting New Hardware Projects...

Post by Fred »

Please consult with me about your plans and reasoning for your project.
  • What I don't want to see is 10 similar designs floating around competing with each other in such a small community.
  • What I do want to see is a set of hardware options covering different needs and user groups that are well maintained by their respective designers.
  • I also do not want to see you spend money on or build something incompatible, which you WILL do if you do not consult with me about your plans.
Regardless of that, right now is a risky time to develop hardware. Less risky than the past, but still risky. I think we have sufficient existing development efforts as is and that those should stabilise more before we diversify.

If you are dead set on coming up with something anyway, ensure that you work closely with me. If you don't, your design will likely be sub-standard and/or incompatible as has been shown in the past.

Fred.
DIYEFI.org - where Open Source means Open Source, and Free means Freedom
FreeEMS.org - the open source engine management system
FreeEMS dev diary and its comments thread and my turbo truck!
n00bs, do NOT PM or email tech questions! Use the forum!
The ever growing list of FreeEMS success stories!
User avatar
Fred
Moderator
Posts: 15431
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:31 pm
Location: Home sweet home!
Contact:

Re: Before Starting New Hardware Projects...

Post by Fred »

So far we've had a situation where a number of people have designed various boards with the expectation that they'll be compatible and/or work and ended up in a situation where they would not have. This is obviously not good.
  • DFH did this, by ignoring my advice. FULL of incompatible and wrong details.
  • Puma did this, by ignoring my advice. FULL of incompatible and wrong details.
  • RavAGE didn't do this, because he worked closely with me from the start.
  • CatPower did this, but had a come back once pointed at RavAGE.
  • Jaguar did a bit of this, and then had a huge come back by working closely with me.
Dan was the only one that came to me and said "I want to build hardware", to which I replied, "I'll work with you if you listen to me" and he did and I did. Consequently his results are closest to correct at this point. Andy got back to equally close once he published info about his project, fairly late in the design process. As did HotCat, when he published info on his, again, fairly late in the design process. Both of them needed to rework things and do things again to make their designs correct = wasted time. This doesn't mean that you should copy RavAGE or any of these projects as they ALL still have PROBLEMS because ALL of them are still UNFINISHED and ALL are still UNPROVEN and ALL are still under DEVELOPMENT. So if you want to avoid headaches, full disclosure of your plan is the best thing for everyone, but especially for you. Without that you're relying on guesswork and out of date documentation that is likely at least in part incorrect. Do the right thing, tell us, or at the very least, me, what you're planning to do!

This post was brought to you because someone copied Jaguar without talking to us, and quite possibly copied some mistakes that were still in it, because he did so without talking to Andy or I first. It'll likely be OK, but it'd be better if he'd spoken up, then it wouldn't be as uncertain and everyone would be happier.

Fred.
DIYEFI.org - where Open Source means Open Source, and Free means Freedom
FreeEMS.org - the open source engine management system
FreeEMS dev diary and its comments thread and my turbo truck!
n00bs, do NOT PM or email tech questions! Use the forum!
The ever growing list of FreeEMS success stories!
User avatar
Fred
Moderator
Posts: 15431
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:31 pm
Location: Home sweet home!
Contact:

Re: Before Starting New Hardware Projects...

Post by Fred »

If you're still convinced that you simply must design a board, see the following thread and pay attention to the requirements: viewtopic.php?f=77&t=2279

Once you understand the above and contents of the linked thread, post your new thread in the fledgling designs section here: viewforum.php?f=77

Fred.
DIYEFI.org - where Open Source means Open Source, and Free means Freedom
FreeEMS.org - the open source engine management system
FreeEMS dev diary and its comments thread and my turbo truck!
n00bs, do NOT PM or email tech questions! Use the forum!
The ever growing list of FreeEMS success stories!
Locked