Does anyone here know the reason why Pcbway stopped accepting credit cards? My colleague asked them but I recall there wasn't a clear answer. It is puzzling why they would make it harder to do business with them from outside China. Jlcpcb doesn't have this problem.
PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
31–40 of 72 posts
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a much less fancy cpu that's very small. No wireless. Lower powered I would expect. But it's an MCU with something like 16KB of flash and 2KB of ram if I remember right. The analog stuff on it is supposed to be pretty good. The Anduril flashlight firmware (toykeeper.net/anduril) is a somewhat popular application that can run on it.
> Lower powered I would expect With the right software, ESP32 can be incredibly low power. Like "months on 3xAA batteries" for watching a pin with the ultra low power subsystem and then occasionally waking up and making a HTTPS call over WiFi.
That's not lower power, is it? E.g. RuuviTags can run 3 years or longer while sending sensor data 2.5 times per second, with a single CR2477 (3V 1000mAh). A single AA alkaline battery has 1.5V and 2100-2700 mAh (https://batteryskills.com/aa-battery-comparison-chart/ , somehow this data was difficult to find so I'll add this link :)).
Bluetooth is lower energy than WiFi, but in your scenario the energy used for the radio is quite low anyway.
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#33Very cool, but what about the $ to manufacture? Things get exponentially(?) harder the smaller it is, especially for custom boards.
This is backwards. PCBs get cheaper to produce the smaller they are, because PCB panels have a fixed size and you can put more PCBs on a single panel if they are smaller. Since you're repeating the same PCB over and over again, it means you're constantly placing the same parts over and over again, meaning that you need fewer reels, which means fewer machines and a shorter assembly line.
The really expensive stuff is through hole components and bulk components (relays, connectors, etc) because they need separate machines (wave soldering, large pick and place).
Placing small components is dirt cheap due to machines like SIPLACE SpeedStar. [0]
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#34Miniaturization in electronics is getting impressive. In lighting hardware we see something similar with LED drivers and control systems becoming smaller while handling higher efficiency and thermal management requirements.
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#35Question for the people who have used the CH32V003 or more generally WCH, either for hobby or production, what is the current state of documentation and toolchain for these chips? Positive experiences, war stories?
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#36Very cool, but what about the $ to manufacture? Things get exponentially(?) harder the smaller it is, especially for custom boards.
This is backwards. PCBs get cheaper to produce the smaller they are, because PCB panels have a fixed size and you can put more PCBs on a single panel if they are smaller. Since you're repeating the same PCB over and over again, it means you're constantly placing the same parts over and over again, meaning that you need fewer reels, which means fewer machines and a shorter assembly line. The really expensive stuff is…
There is a point where smaller isn't cheaper, because handling and overhead costs dominate and even get harder. (the same is true for fasteners, where they get cheaper as they get smaller, until the material cost is irrelevant and they start getting more fiddly the manufacture and handle)
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#37This looks great - how viable would it be to use as a USB Audio class device, perhaps as a synthesizer or effects unit? It'd be simply amazing to be able to add audio/synthesis processing capabilities in such a form factor ..
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#38Does anyone here know the reason why Pcbway stopped accepting credit cards? My colleague asked them but I recall there wasn't a clear answer. It is puzzling why they would make it harder to do business with them from outside China. Jlcpcb doesn't have this problem.
It was either PCBWay or JLCPCB, but they had a "review window" where it was possible to make changes or cancel an order. They recently switched this to be an automated review, so there was no opportunity for corrections. It could be that the card companies blacklisted them after people started cancelling orders with their credit cards, because their UI stopped supporting the feature.
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a much less fancy cpu that's very small. No wireless. Lower powered I would expect. But it's an MCU with something like 16KB of flash and 2KB of ram if I remember right. The analog stuff on it is supposed to be pretty good. The Anduril flashlight firmware (toykeeper.net/anduril) is a somewhat popular application that can run on it.
> Lower powered I would expect With the right software, ESP32 can be incredibly low power. Like "months on 3xAA batteries" for watching a pin with the ultra low power subsystem and then occasionally waking up and making a HTTPS call over WiFi.
Do you have an example of such a setup handy?
Re: PCB devboard the size of a USB-C plug
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Lower powered I would expect With the right software, ESP32 can be incredibly low power. Like "months on 3xAA batteries" for watching a pin with the ultra low power subsystem and then occasionally waking up and making a HTTPS call over WiFi.
That's not lower power, is it? E.g. RuuviTags can run 3 years or longer while sending sensor data 2.5 times per second, with a single CR2477 (3V 1000mAh). A single AA alkaline battery has 1.5V and 2100-2700 mAh ( https://batteryskills.com/aa-battery-comparison-chart/ , somehow this data was difficult to find so I'll add this link :)). Bluetooth is lower energy than WiFi, but in your scenario the energy used for the r…
nRF52832 are famous for their low energy usage, it's hard to compete with them. However, ESP32 is much more universal.