Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Discussion and questions about boards that can run MicroPython but don't have a dedicated forum.
Target audience: Everyone interested in running MicroPython on other hardware.
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kfricke
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by kfricke » Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:22 pm

SpotlightKid wrote:The Pyboard form factor also isn't very friendly to breadboarding. If you solder male pin headers to it and stick it in a breadboard, it covers all the middle lanes and leaves no place to plug you jumper wires or other components. The huzzzah/nodemcu form factor is much more practical in this regard.
The suggested design is not meant to be friendly to your bread's board. Only for your budget, hand soldering and field usability.

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kfricke
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by kfricke » Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:30 pm

Turbinenreiter wrote:...feather...
sorry, i did pick roberthh's post regarding this.
Also, in choosing boards to be Pin compatible with, why the pyboard? The form factor didn't exactly catch on and there is next to none expansion boards for it.
This might be a take to change it. The design by itself it smart in my opinion"
Adafruits Feather form factor however has a whole lot of expansion boards. Why not just use their Huzzah boards?
To be honest i did get some WROOM-02s for cheap money and want to use them.
If you wanna drop cost, the Eagle files for that board are Open Hardware and it could be easily modified (I'm willing to do that - edit: I just did, it takes like two minutes to remove all the parts you don't want. An hour to check and recheck everything and it's good to go. Checkout here).
'cause i will not install Eagle... could you please provide an export as an bitmap or vector file format?
You guys just need a crash course in Eagle ;)
No, thanks ;-)
(Not trying to 'shit' on your idea, just trying to provide constructive feedback.)
All constructive answers are welcome!

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kfricke
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by kfricke » Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:32 pm

deshipu wrote:So I tried to make a quick and dirty mockup of such a PCB in Fritzing (http://fritzing.org). The first problem I had is that the WROOM-02 board is too wide to fit between pyboard's pins....
Cool, thanks. But it should be possible to fit it on a board of that size...
pyboard_wroom-02.jpg
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deshipu
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by deshipu » Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:40 pm

Hmm, ok then, it seems that the footprint of it that I found was wrong. No problem, we can just use 2mm pitch pin headers in that place, and solder the module to that.

The real problem is which gpio pins should go where. Any ideas? I can update and clean up the design then.

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kfricke
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by kfricke » Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:47 pm

deshipu wrote:Hmm, ok then, it seems that the footprint of it that I found was wrong. No problem, we can just use 2mm pitch pin headers in that place, and solder the module to that.
Check the attached screenshot from their datasheet... It is a 1.5mm spacing i'd say.
The real problem is which gpio pins should go where. Any ideas? I can update and clean up the design then.
I am working on this right now.
Attachments
0C-ESP-WROOM-02_Datasheet_EN.pages_001.png
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Turbinenreiter
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by Turbinenreiter » Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:58 pm

kfricke wrote:'cause i will not install Eagle... could you please provide an export as an bitmap or vector file format?
I think your claims about Eagle are beyond ridiculous.
Fritzing is nice, but way to limited. KiCAD is the best you can get free of charge and it also is free as in FLOSS. But Adafruit uses Eagle so when I adapt a design I have to go with that. KiCAD is also way harder to use for a beginner because it's library management is designed for hardcore pros, Eagle is way more convenient (but also a shortcut).
kfricke wrote:Why do they design a LiPo "subsystem" without the possibility to track voltage.
VBAT is connected to an ADC via a voltage divider, so there is the possibility to track voltage.

I think the idea of a low cost and DIY friendly ESP8266 board using the Feather form factor is viable and I will keep on working on that. There are some more parts that can be removed and others that can be replaced by through hole parts.

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kfricke
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by kfricke » Mon Sep 12, 2016 8:05 pm

Turbinenreiter wrote:...
VBAT is connected to an ADC via a voltage divider, so there is the possibility to track voltage.
That is wrong as far as i know. Do you see it on their board design files? Their learning system tells to solder up that voltage divider by hand.
How do you think it is implemented? Is it switchable?
I think the idea of a low cost and DIY friendly ESP8266 board using the Feather form factor is viable and I will keep on working on that. There are some more parts that can be removed and others that can be replaced by through hole parts.
Very interesting anyway. Please keep me updated. I do also like the feather form factor.

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kfricke
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by kfricke » Mon Sep 12, 2016 8:09 pm

Turbinenreiter wrote:I think your claims about Eagle are beyond ridiculous.
The recent free version of eagle do include advertisements reloaded from the web. The embedded ads can in fact spy on you and thereby can considered spyware or malware.

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kfricke
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by kfricke » Mon Sep 12, 2016 8:54 pm

deshipu wrote:... The real problem is which gpio pins should go where. Any ideas? I can update and clean up the design then.
How about this?
Untitled 1 - LibreOffice Calc_002.png
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Turbinenreiter
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Re: Suggestions please: ESP8266 "Base"-Board with pyboard Footprint

Post by Turbinenreiter » Mon Sep 12, 2016 9:09 pm

kfricke wrote: That is wrong as far as i know. Do you see it on their board design files? Their learning system tells to solder up that voltage divider by hand.
How do you think it is implemented? Is it switchable?
You are right, I just saw it, too. The M0 Feathers have it onboard and I thought all of them do.
kfricke wrote:Very interesting anyway. Please keep me updated. I do also like the feather form factor.
Just updated the branch with a through hole part design. You can use http://forest.rivc.co/hackmit/ to view it without using evil Eagle.

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