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Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

snapeda.com

51–60 of 110 posts

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#51

Shocking that it's 2016 and the component manufacturers aren't providing this data free and online, right next to the datasheet link. Then again, after working with these companies, it's not so surprising! Congrats on the launch.

Agree. Imagine if c/c++ library developers didn't provide header files and everyone had to generate them from documentation or symbol listing.

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#52
post #42
post #38

Why? Making schematic symbols and PCB footprints is not time consuming, and at least you'll have the proper paste mask. Altium has an IPC footprint generator wizard, and 3Dcontentcentral has lots of user contributed parts in STEP format.

> Why? Making schematic symbols and PCB footprints is not time consuming Whaaaaaat? o_O

The pre-canned libraries will never have the typical customization needed for PCB.

The paste mask aperatures need sizing depending on what stencil thickness you use.

Need vias under the QFN belly pad for RF or heat sinking purposes. Do those need tenting on the back side? They also may need to avoid the paste aperatures?

How about solder mask relief? Copper defined pads or mask defined pads?

Are the part centroids on the correct layer? Also the keep out regions, and 3D model?

What I'm getting at is the footprints are more than just copper pads; that's the easy part. They will still require lots of customization, so you are better of just doing them yourself and building up your own library.

Now having correct schematic symbol pinouts for that 1024 ball BGA. That is useful.

PCB library vendors have come and gone over the 20+ years I have been an EE.

Also, as someone else mentioned, the schematic symbols are defined by if you have a logical (digital) or physical (RF) schematic. For example, pin spacing should be such that bypass caps can be squeezed between. Even data sheets have multiple symbols for the same part in the same data sheet; Linear Technology is a good example of this.

Anyone doing PCB professionally will make their own symbols and footprints. A hobbyist using free layout software won't pay $29 for a footprint.

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#53
Very cool! I can't seem find any links to click on to actually order parts from manufacturers when I find a part - e.g. https://www.snapeda.com/parts/MCP23017-E/SP/Microchip/view-p...

There's the whole section at the top about availability and average price, but no link to go buy it? In addition to the InstaPart revenue, are you also going to make money with affiliate sales to parts sites (a la Octopart)?

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#54

Dear HN Community, I wanted to introduce our startup SnapEDA to the HN community. We recently completed Y Combinator, and have been quiet about the platform while we've been improving it. With that said, we’d love to get feedback from the HN community! Our goal is to build a canonical library for making circuit boards: one trusted, centralized place to get digital models. These digital models include PCB footprints,…

I hope this is constructive, but that chat invitation on every freaking page drove me off the site. By time I'd logged in and searched for two parts, the incessant chirping and popups of Clippy were too much.

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#55
post #20

Is this where people should go to make a production level PCB's for products that are prototyped on something like a raspberry pi? Or is it serving a different market?

Yes, exactly. It's for people designing custom PCBs. That includes people who have something prototyped on a Raspberry Pi/Arduino, etc. and want to migrate to a custom board that's ready for production (ie. to get cost, form factor down).

Interesting. Is there a guide for someone who's not a PCB designer to get his raspi project as a custom board ?

I want to make a raspi remote controller that controls IR devices around my house via a web app. This would be a perfect, but I have no idea how to get it into a PCB design.

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#56

Very cool! I can't seem find any links to click on to actually order parts from manufacturers when I find a part - e.g. https://www.snapeda.com/parts/MCP23017-E/SP/Microchip/view-p... There's the whole section at the top about availability and average price, but no link to go buy it? In addition to the InstaPart revenue, are you also going to make money with affiliate sales to parts sites (a la Octopart)?

If you go to the Pricing tab you'll see links to buy the parts through popular North American and European distributors. This data is supplied via Octopart.

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#57
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, exactly. It's for people designing custom PCBs. That includes people who have something prototyped on a Raspberry Pi/Arduino, etc. and want to migrate to a custom board that's ready for production (ie. to get cost, form factor down).

Interesting. Is there a guide for someone who's not a PCB designer to get his raspi project as a custom board ? I want to make a raspi remote controller that controls IR devices around my house via a web app. This would be a perfect, but I have no idea how to get it into a PCB design.

Hey, I do this kind of stuff. Email me and I'll help you get started.

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#58
post #54

Dear HN Community, I wanted to introduce our startup SnapEDA to the HN community. We recently completed Y Combinator, and have been quiet about the platform while we've been improving it. With that said, we’d love to get feedback from the HN community! Our goal is to build a canonical library for making circuit boards: one trusted, centralized place to get digital models. These digital models include PCB footprints,…

I hope this is constructive, but that chat invitation on every freaking page drove me off the site. By time I'd logged in and searched for two parts, the incessant chirping and popups of Clippy were too much.

Very constructive, thanks. We recently installed the app (Intercom) and it has really helped provide a channel for feedback which we have then used to prioritize improvements. I'll talk to my team about reducing the number of pages the automated pop up shows up on though.

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#59
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We plan to work with component manufacturers to make sure their parts are well-represented on SnapEDA. We also have Premium versions for users who need more functionality. You can learn more at https://www.snapeda.com/pricing .

"You can sign up for a 10-day free trial of SnapEDA premium. During the trial period, you can cancel any time in your Account Settings. After the trial ends, you will be charged $297 ($99/month, billed quarterly)." This stinks of dark patterns and maximizing the amount you can hit people who forget to cancel for before they notice. It's rather unlikely that someone would actually want to pay quarterly at the higher m…

If you don't want to sign up for a subscription, you can purchase individual parts for the $29. Also, our free version is really powerful so if you're not in a rush, you can stick with that one. :-)

Re: Show HN: InstaPart – Build circuit boards faster with instant parts

#60

Dear HN Community, I wanted to introduce our startup SnapEDA to the HN community. We recently completed Y Combinator, and have been quiet about the platform while we've been improving it. With that said, we’d love to get feedback from the HN community! Our goal is to build a canonical library for making circuit boards: one trusted, centralized place to get digital models. These digital models include PCB footprints,…

This is awesome, I'll have to see if I can import them into Proteus (labcenter electronics EDA package)

We haven't tested it yet but if Proteus supports P-CAD then you can try downloading an Altium format which we export currently to P-CAD file format. Let us know how it goes.
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