I'm curious to learn how others are documenting their hardware projects? I tend to use a combination of OneNote and Google drive, but I think there must be better alternatives. I've seen a number of others documenting their hardware projects with GitHub, and it would be interesting to learn if people have had a good experience and if they have guidelines/workflows to share.
Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
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Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#2Obsidian or logseq.
Saves as markdown and can be processed to other formats.
Also allows writing as you work.
For step by step stuff, I’d lean towards logseq as the UI but sharing a folder inside an obsidian vault folder. Logseq is more at the bullet level which can be more useful in certain cases
Lots of videos on your tube on this setup to allow you to access the best plugins from both systems.
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#3Poorly, usually. Markdown files everywhere, occasionally a google doc if I'm away from the laptop. Usually hardware projects will end up in a git repo, but mostly for the benefit of whatever firmware I'm writing around it - if there's any specific Kicad integration with version control, I wouldn't know.
The biggest changes I've made recently are leaving notes inside the schematic (so I can't miss them) and keeping local copies of every datasheet and app note that I need.
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#4Obsidian or logseq. Saves as markdown and can be processed to other formats. Also allows writing as you work. For step by step stuff, I’d lean towards logseq as the UI but sharing a folder inside an obsidian vault folder. Logseq is more at the bullet level which can be more useful in certain cases Lots of videos on your tube on this setup to allow you to access the best plugins from both systems.
+1 for Logseq. I have tried so many note taking and organization apps. Logseq had a little bit of a learning curve, but it works better than anything else for my ADHD brain.
With other apps, I would still spend so much time thinking about where to put my notes when it's already difficult for me to take notes and organize things in the first place. I would end up with what was essentially a digital junk drawer. It was all there, but it was a scavenger hunt when I needed to find something and nothing was ever connected.
With Logseq, I started using the journal, tagging and linking as needed as I write. I don't ever think about where to put anything. Although I occasionally create separate pages, I'm mostly in the journal. The tags I add to individual notes become their own pages that are sort of a hub containing every reference. Sometimes I go into those hub pages and add more substantive documentation than the journal references. After several days, I saw this network of information starting to come together. It's like being able to make a contemporary recording of my brain and then reference it later.
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#5I use Logseq for all my note taking and documentation.
I will often mark pages as 'public' and commit the modified files to my Github repo - which triggers a website update workflow to my docs.mypersonaldomain.com.
If I want to document further and for whatever reason it is not something that looks great on Logseq, then I pull the data out and use whatever. Usually Github, as I typically want as much content I've worked on to be visible to the world.
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#6Trillium notes. Works pretty well for my homelab. Keeping inventory of all the things i have, how they are set up and relations between them.
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#7Mechanical Engineer here - this is the million dollar question.
We currently use antiquated systems, or bad software based on antiquated systems.
My approach - don’t rely on software. It’s a mentality, not a software. Your CAD should be organized in a future proof structure. Your analysis should reference the hardware by diagram. You should be able to easily find the analysis with nothing more than a hunch. Your drawings should be organized and the numbering should make sense. Create a part numbering schema that gives some information more than just the part number.
Ask yourself every day - if someone asks me where the work I did today is, would I be able to quickly find it?
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#8Through business losses on my yearly taxes
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#9Google Doc, though performance suffers for image-heavy or long docs. Wish they would include support for Ink.
Re: Ask HN: How do you document your hardware projects?
#10Self hosted Gitea + Markdown + Mermaid diagrams