PRC Rev 2.0 Prototype Boards Received - so far so good

Brian Riley

The Propeller Robot Controller Revision 2.00 prototype boards arrived today (Thursday 12/14). The boards checked out visually. They were rung out with a DMM and no unexpected shorts were found. I began assembly, expect to test tomorrow afternoon.

I also received the PRC-IO boards as well, they check out visually and for shorts as well. I cannot test them unitl my parts order from Mouser arrives tomorrow or Monday.

Pictures etc will be posted on the PRC website

wwww.wulfden.org/PRC/

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cheers ... brian riley, n1bq, underhill center, vermont
See the K107 Serial LCD Controller at
www.wulfden.org/k107/

Brian Riley

The PRC-Rev2 is OK. The PRC-IO needs some work and at least one more round of prototyping. It is functionally OK but physical spacing of connectors needs work. I may be forced to have 2 different IO baords, one with KB/Mouse and TV video and audio, and one with KB/Mouse and VGA. I have run out of steam today; I am making too many mistakes. I will pick this back up tomorrow and see where it takes me, with a goal of submitting the PRC-IO Prototype(s) to ExpressPCB Monday.

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cheers ... brian riley, n1bq, underhill center, vermont
See the K107 Serial LCD Controller at
www.wulfden.org/k107/

kerryw

Hang in there Brian. I have the PRC 1 and have really liked it. Looking forward to seeing this one.

Kerry

acantostega

Good to know the board's coming along well. Let us know when it's ready!

Brian Riley

1/4/2007 - I am finally satisfied with the Rev 2.00 prototype of the PRC. It has been submitted for production. Assuming there is nothing wrong with the production boards, I expect to begin shipping on or before 1/24/2007. Here is a list of changes/feauters of the Rev 2 board;

- both power selection jumper sets have been moved togther each to take a single 2x3 pin header with uniform .100" spacing

- the higher power traces were beefed up to a uniform width

- the 4 pin header holes for the USB2SER remain, but in the location where R1 used to be are 5 holes arranged so that 4 holes are setup for the Propeller Plug. A fifth pin in line has +3.3Vdc to permit a person to connect an RS232 programming interface of his own fabrication. R1 has been moved to be underneather the Propeller chip

- all of the through holes that terminate in the ground plane on the bottom side had their pads converted to a "thermal-pad" configuration, this should make it easier to solder

- R2 has been removed and the LED has been changed to a standard sized T1/4 with a built in series resistor. The location of the LED is now in the vicinity of where the reset button used to be and the rest button is moved to the edge of the PCB where the LED used to be.

- In the kit the 5 MHz crystal will be changed from an HC-49U to HC-49US, which is only 3.5 mm high and wil permit it to be socketed or soldered in and will not interfere with the upcoming PRC-VGIO and PRC-TVIO boards. Also as a part of the preparation for the I/O boards, the large capacitor C1 will need to bemounted on the bottom of the board

- In the kits there will be very little cutting needing to be done this time around. Part way through round one, I started supplying the servo connectors as 14 pre-cut 2x3 pin headers. there willl be 16 now as the power selectors have been moved to take this same 2x3. The resistor headers on the right side of the chip Propeller pins P16 to PP27 will have 2 each 1x4 and 1x8 socket headers, pre-cut, plus 1 each 1x4 and 1x8 socket headers for +3/+5 vdc and GND on the left side of the board.

- The resistor headers for Propeller P0 to P15 will be supplied as two 16 pin machine pin sockets, to accept resistor packs in DIP packages or hand inserted

- There was some minor adjustments of pin headers on the right side to accept the I/O board

- I plan to submit the PRC-VGIO and PRC-TVIO for final prototyping tomorrow.


1/2/2007 - I am not yet happy with the PRC I/O boards. I started with the idea of a single board with room for the RCA jack for composite video and the HD15 for the VGA, user decided which he wants and solders resistors and connectors as appropriate. For some reason this just didin't want to fly. I had more success when I shelved this idea and went to separate boards ... the PRC-VGIO which has two PS2 connectors for mouse and KB and HD15 for VGA, and the PRC-TVIO which has 2 PS2s, RCA jack for TV video, and two 4 pin right angle connectors which will accept up to two Acroname RS232 serial interface connectors (a.k.a. Brainstem connector) or a handbuilt adapter, the four pins each have two Propeller pins (P16/P17 and P18/P190 plus GNd and power (power is jumper selected as 3.3 or 5 vdc. the Acroname unit will run on either)

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cheers ... brian riley, n1bq, underhill center, vermont
See the K107 Serial LCD Controller at
www.wulfden.org/k107/

acantostega

I've been wondering, where do you get those female pin headers? Unlike other female headers I've used you can actually cut them apart without losing one in the process.

Brian Riley

acantostega said...
I've been wondering, where do you get those female pin headers? Unlike other female headers I've used you can actually cut them apart without losing one in the process.

From Mouser .. p/n: 517-974-01-36 1x36 pin $1.62 each in qty=100

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cheers ... brian riley, n1bq, underhill center, vermont
See the K107 Serial LCD Controller at
www.wulfden.org/k107/

acantostega

Cool. Thanks!