I've been working heads down this week using @kicad.org to finish up the layout on my next open source hardware project - designed to run Elixir via @nerves-project.org Here's a sneak peek from the 3D render, more info coming very soon! ⚡ - ThreadSky

gworkman.bsky.social • 84 days ago

I've been working heads down this week using @kicad.org to finish up the layout on my next open source hardware project - designed to run Elixir via @nerves-project.org

Here's a sneak peek from the 3D render, more info coming very soon! ⚡

Comments

tuxified.bsky.social•84 days ago

👀

peterullrich.com•83 days ago

Honest question because I know fuck all about hardware: why do you build your own PCB instead of using e.g. a Raspberry Pi? And will you be able to run Nerves just like on a Pi incl. OTA updates? And also: how much approx does it cost to build a custom PCB?

tuxified.bsky.social•83 days ago

People build custom hardware that's complementary with other hardware, like compute module for Pi). Sometimes because boards like Pi miss something. Custom PCB can be inexpensive (€10-50 is normal I think). As for software, totally depends on PCB (I'm no hardware expert, so correct me if needed)

gworkman.bsky.social•83 days ago

Great questions! In many cases Raspberry pi is great, especially for hobby projects. But it can become expensive to stick it (or a compute module) in your product, and the form factor is then restricted

RPi is great for multimedia apps but lacks a lot of hardware interfaces such as CAN (automotive)

gworkman.bsky.social•83 days ago

This is especially true in cases where you need more power than a microcontroller but less than a full rpi

For example if you want a Linux based system to read some sensors and stream data via Phoenix channels, then it might make sense to have a custom nerves board to reduce cost and size

gworkman.bsky.social•83 days ago

More specs coming soon, but this board will be fully nerves compatible and support OTA updates - including secure NervesHub support (SSL certs can be stored on hardware encryption chip)

gworkman.bsky.social•83 days ago

For cost, in general ordering custom circuit boards has come way down in price in recent years. In small quantities (min usually is 5) this board is around €25 - 30 each. In large quantities that drops to < €15

gworkman.bsky.social•83 days ago

The goal is to help increase adoption of Nerves and Elixir - having a fully open source platform in the ecosystem lowers the cost to design hardware customized to individual applications, and can help de-risk building embedded devices with Elixir

More info on this aspect at ElixirConf EU!

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