Mini Mainboard

[johu]

It shares many electrical properties with the V3 mainboard: https://openinverter.org/wiki/Main_Board_Version_3
Except the outputs, they need to be fed to extra drivers if needed https://openinverter.org/wiki/Mini_Mainboard

[johu]

I think there is an error on the mini mainboard resulting in lack of CAN communication. The slew rate pin is floating but needs to be tied to ground with a resistor. I scratched the GND plane a bit and soldered in a 10k resistor. Can be any value from like 0R to 20k whatever is in your parts bin (the value controls the slew rate)

[llange]

Hi @johu, I believe you fixed this already in your git for the mainboard-mini.sch and mainboard-mini.brd (however the PDF File of the schematics is not updated).

Would it be possible that you also share the Gerber files, BOM and Placement file ? I was wanting to convert this schematic/board from Eagle to KiCad, and having those would help me compare the expected result and make sure that my conversion was correct.

Another related question : are the adapter boards (for Nissan Leaf Gen2 ; for BMW i3 ; may be other) open hardware or not ? If so I was not able to find the related schematics / boards and was wondering if you could point me in the right direction.

[johu]

pdf updated
I usually publish gerbers on patreon earlier. Not planning to publish manufacturing data just yet. But gerbers are easily generated with freeware eagle

[llange]

Thank you for the file update.

OK for your stance on the manufacturing data / gerbers. You're right that they can be generated, but I try to avoid Eagle now that it needs an account/activation and try to use free software when possible...

I've just finished the conversion to KiCad for the mainboard-mini. I'll be happy to share it somewhere on a github ; but if you'd prefer not let me know.

[johu]

The files are eagle 6.4.0 which didn't have any registration nonsense going on
Maybe 6.6.0 doesn't either? http://eagle.autodesk.com/eagle/software-versions/10

[llange]

You're certainly right but while I used eagle a long time ago (DOS version anyone ?) I now prefer to use free software, hence my KiCad approach.
What do you think so ? Should I share it somewhere, or you prefer that I don't ?

[johu]

Yes KiCAD is preferred! Just hadn't switched to it for this design. So yes please publish it.

So in that case I might as well attach gerbers here

[llange]

Here it is https://github.com/llange/openinverter- ... board-mini .
I tried to stress it in the README - there are certainly errors introduced during the conversion. I tried my best but don't have that much experience using KiCad nor designing boards.
I also tried to express the fact that it's a modification of your work @johu - so that any issue with this repository will not negatively impact the original design.

I'm interested in all review / criticism / issue opening / merge requests / etc... that can allow this converted design to be as close as possible as the original one.

(And if one day @johu you want to "adopt" this as you main source it'll be my pleasure to transfer the repository to you.)

[johu]

Cool, might have time to check it out tomorrow (long train ride)

[llange]

Excellent, thanks !

One thing to check is that the BOM is consistent. I had to manually find all the component on JLCPCB and some time I may have chosen the wrong one (tolerance / voltage / etc...)
(If you still have your original BOM I can cross check that to confirm the part choices.)

[johu]

Looked over the PCB yesterday and didn't find any obvious mistake. Will go over the BOM later

[llange]

Thanks !
Keep us informed

[llange]

Hi @johu, how is the BOM check going ? Do you need some help ?

On a related note, I was thinking of doing the same thing (converting to KiCad) the Leaf Adapter. However the files on your repo (leaf_adapter.fpc and leaf_adapter_smd.fpc) are for an older version (v3 main board) - not the one you're selling (mini mainboard).

Are you OK that I try to do this conversion (FreePCB -> KiCad) ? Or would you prefer that I don't ?
If you're OK with it, it would be great if you could update your repo with the latest sources for these boards.

Thanks in advance.

[remy_martian]

Too much design splintering going on - it's impossible to maintain hardware where everybody goes off and does their own thing for CAD tools, layout/BOM, etc.

The boards are cheap enough to where you should be buying them off the OI store.

Who's going to support your gerber layout problems? Johu already finished the mini-board, so why is he being nice checking a splinter that adds nothing in terms of capability? Why haven't you thrown $5 a month into the Patreon pot so he can pay the rent vs drawing files out into parasiteland?

I want to add capability to the mini...do I pick your splinter or Johu's? What about the next capability. So many forks that the community gets forked.

Disgusting what you're doing to the effort here - revisiting stuff that's done with nothing added and a lot of handholding by one of a handful of people that could be doing better things..

"how's the design checking going" asks the Janitor, not even Apprentice, of the Master


Join Johu's Patreon

Buy his boards off this website.

[llange]

Dear @remy_martian,

Thank you for expressing your opinion - that I respect and voicing your concerns.

Not wanting to fuel a flamewar nor feed a troll, but as a newcomer to this board I give you the benefit of the doubt and kindly tell you that you may be wrong in your analysis.
My intent here maybe was not clear from reading from the beginning, so I'm grateful that you let me expand on this:

• first is to propose an alternative file format so that people have the choice to use whatever EDA tool they like

• then is to enhance a little bit the experience for less-capable users such as myself, who don't produce boards everyday, and would like to have a clear instruction sheet on how to edit or make changes to the design

• finally is for me to be learning and understanding the ecosystem, knowing that I can do any change anytime I want to better suit the needs of my project (some people "dive in" and use the HW first -like it were a final product-, then ask questions later ; other people take the time to understand what they will connect to their 400V battery and trust their car/body to - no way is superior to the other and I believe there's room for either approach)

As an everyday user of open source software and hardware, I choose to do it in the open, sharing what I have done so that others may benefit from it.

I understand your worries about forking, which may be valid, but your fears are unfounded. Step 1 for contributing to an open-source project (on GitHub, GitLab, ...) is to make a fork first, then to submit PRs/MRs to the original repository. The slight difference here is that @johu choose to have a monorepo with all his board designs inside, while I prefer the approach where each unrelated board has its own repo - I feel it's better for versioning.


All that said, and all ideas exchanged, I don't think it's relevant to further expand in this discussion. I did not force you to use what I shared here, and the choices you make are yours obviously.
I believe @johu is able to tell me himself if he wanted me to continue in that direction or not ; and I also believe he was not opposed to have a KiCad version of the board. (and @johu, do not feel obliged to anything ; if you want me to remove this design from public view this has always been possible and still is)

Have a nice day, and sorry to be blunt but I do not have much time either to discuss it further while I could be doing better things.
I look forward to having a better collaboration with you on other subjects in the future, in the meantime let the heat cool down before pressing 'reply'...

[bkkona]

I’ve got the esp8266 up and running with the wifi network inverter8 showing - what’s the default password please?

Hi there, did you find the password for inverter8?