Schematics and Circuit Board layout with Fusion 360

[slow-poke]

IF and that's a big IF there is any interest in Tom's $3 TouchDRO board, it might make sense to do a group buy of the components to save on shipping.

The two expensive parts are:
1) ESP32 board (see Tom's link post #99)
2) Connectors AliExpress offer these pretty cheap with free shipping

The remaining parts add up to about $10 and could be sent in a regular envelope.

All in price could be about $20 for a DRO if you have some sort of Android device. I tested with an old phone.

So I will keep an eye on this thread and if Tom gets 6 interested people I can get the parts and distribute via Canada post.

 

[Tomc938]

I need another DRO like I need a hole my the head or 42 more projects but I am so tempted...

No John!!! Look at the picture... You have enough already...

View attachment 61141

No means no!

Stop it... The answer is still no....

I haven't even finished assembling the second DRO-550 much less the second DRO-350... The Unimat doesn't need a DRO at the moment....

Noooooooooo.

What's your address? I'll send you two right away.

 

[jcdammeyer]

What's your address? I'll send you two right away.

Nooooooooooooooooo.
And the sad thing is I probably have all the parts on hand... Except for scales. Apparently @David still has the tape on scales on his mill but no readers.

I'm still trying to finish my Wing Vane for measuring wind speed and direction. However I tidied up the aluminum support tube I made on the lathe and now can't find it. Plus the special card for Home Assistant doesn't work right.

I don't need another project as I got sucked into doing this filament rewinding control. (Which is actually kind of fun).

 

[David]

I’m toying with the idea of adding a DRO again but I don’t want to spring for another TouchDRO as I don’t need its whizbang functionality.

 

[David]

Well I am excited to say Jeff has built two of the boards and tested them and they work!

I ordered a batch of 10 as that was the smallest order number.

I have 6 spares. If anyone would like one, I can send it to you for postage plus $3 (my cost) per board.

I also can send the parts list so you know what to order. Word of warning: the components are mighty small. You need to be confident soldering surface mount components or it probably won't work.

Also, you need to order ESP32-DevKitC core board ESP32 development board ESP32-WROOM-32D. It has to be the exact part. There are lots of these boards out there, and the pinout are different. They re available on Amazon or Ailespress. (https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005...st_main.5.7de11802a0ILgT&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm).

There is a bit of terminal UNIX stuff that needs to be done to install the software on the chip. I am willing to walk you through the steps. It's a bit involved.

Since the board design is done (awesome work by the way @Tomc938 and @slow-poke) is there any reason not to have PCBWay build the full boards? (I'm talking out of my @ss here as I have less than zero skills/knowledge in this dept.)

 

[slow-poke]

One thing to keep in mind is that the original developer promotes the idea of people building one for themselves, he even provides instructions, however not building in quantity for profit or something to that effect. Not sure how he would view having a batch of populated boards made?

If having these made by a CM was the plan, I would ditch the development board and just populate the ESP32 directly, that would reduce cost by about 50%

 

[David]

One thing to keep in mind is that the original developer promotes the idea of people building one for themselves, he even provides instructions, however not building in quantity for profit or something to that effect. Not sure how he would view having a batch of populated boards made?

That's fair.

 

[Tomc938]

Since the board design is done (awesome work by the way @Tomc938 and @slow-poke) is there any reason not to have PCBWay build the full boards? (I'm talking out of my @ss here as I have less than zero skills/knowledge in this dept.)

You sure could! I don't know what the cost would be, but I could send you the files @slowpoke put together and they should be able to give you a quote based on that. If I understand correctly, they would not do the connectors or ESP chip. Just the little bits.

And @slowpoke did all the work. I was just the project manager. For those of you who haven't worked with a project manager, this means: I don't really know what needs to be done, what it takes to get it done, or if we'll ever get it done. But I have a nice office.

 

[140mower]

I need another DRO like I need a hole my the head or 42 more projects but I am so tempted...

No John!!! Look at the picture... You have enough already...

View attachment 61141

No means no!

Stop it... The answer is still no....

I haven't even finished assembling the second DRO-550 much less the second DRO-350... The Unimat doesn't need a DRO at the moment....

Noooooooooo.

.....so, that is a solid maybe then.

 

[slow-poke]

.....so, that is a solid maybe then.

Please keep up the one liners. A chuckle here and there is good medicine in these crazy times. One of the reasons I tune in to this forum almost daily.

 

[slow-poke]

You sure could! I don't know what the cost would be, but I could send you the files @slowpoke put together and they should be able to give you a quote based on that. If I understand correctly, they would not do the connectors or ESP chip. Just the little bits.

And @slowpoke did all the work. I was just the project manager. For those of you who haven't worked with a project manager, this means: I don't really know what needs to be done, what it takes to get it done, or if we'll ever get it done. But I have a nice office.

In addition to the gerber/drill files for the PCB, they just need the BOM and P&P (Pick & Place) file. I can't recall if I sent that but it's certainly available if needed.

 

[djberta]

Hi guys I would be interested in two boards for the group buy if its still a go?

Or if no group buy I would be interested in the gerber files and I will order my own. I have am getting ready to order nanoels boards from jlpc and I can add more to my order.

 

[David]

@slow-poke
This is what's in the file @Tomc938 gave me

 

[slow-poke]

Looks like you have everything, except...
The schematic as provided by Yuri? requires some components to be populated and some not to be populated depending on the type of scale used.

I'm not sure how many people actually use the "cheap" 3v3 scales, I know I wouldn't.

If this proceeds I'm not against tweaking to simplify and improve. I simply reproduced and corrected where necessary the schematic as provided. It works, but I don't like it and simple improvements can be made that will lower the parts count and cost.

 

[David]

Thanks, I'm curious what it would cost to have a couple of boards made. If there's a simpler/better way to design it to reduce cost that would be great.

 

[mickeyf]

I think maybe, I'm another "solid maybe". By which I mean if a group thing goes forward I'd like to be kept in the loop. Or, @Tomc938 I might want one of your spare boards. I put a DRO from Ali express on the mill I sold before my last move, but don't have one yet on the mill I have now so getting some sort is in the long list of projects.

 

[jcdammeyer]

@David has the mag tape on his mill. What type of readers are used with these and how much do they cost.

And notice I'm being pulled down into this rabbit hole...

 

[jcdammeyer]

@David has the mag tape on his mill. What type of readers are used with these and how much do they cost.

And notice I'm being pulled down into this rabbit hole...

Quick bit of research...

IBB High Precision Milling Lathe DRO Magnetic Scale Sensor 5V 0.005mm 5um Encoder Magnet Scale TTL Lathe Wooden Stone Machines - AliExpress 1420

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

vi.aliexpress.com

Does anyone know what type of protocol these scales actually send out?

 

[slow-poke]

Quick bit of research...

IBB High Precision Milling Lathe DRO Magnetic Scale Sensor 5V 0.005mm 5um Encoder Magnet Scale TTL Lathe Wooden Stone Machines - AliExpress 1420

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

vi.aliexpress.com

Does anyone know what type of protocol these scales actually send out?

Not sure, but these (same part # except the "AS" use differential quadrature (same as Ditron and that's what I'm using on my lathe)...... https://vi.aliexpress.com/i/1005006196081659.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm

 

[slow-poke]

This is about how an improved version would look...
+ A bit smaller than the original
+ Only 26 vs. 73 components on the original
+ Differential signaling
+ scales plug directly into PCB

I suppose I could use a larger version of the one small IC, and that would make it easy to solder for anyone with basic soldering skills

One step further would be to replace the development board with a raw ESP32 module, that would save a lot of space and halve the cost. It never ends;-)