3.3V PSU is always a challenge on small PCB’s. I tend to end up with linear regulators due to size and cost. They are are great, but regulating from 24V to 3.3V means you use more effect on the regulator than you get out. Sometimes I also need to regulate to 5V and continue to…
I really like routing electronics. It is something relaxing about this task that I find very enjoyable. I started routing on pen & paper single layer some 30+ years ago, so having access to a professional EDA and 2 layers are a dream. I would like to upgrade to 4 layers to get two layers…
I am toying with the idea to create an Embedded Solid State Disk. The concept is not new or complicated and if you dissect an SSD or USB Memory stick you will find two chips. One is the NAND Flash Controller and the other is the NAND Flash itself. USB or SATA is not very…
This is my current sensor. INA210 comes with a fixed gain of 200. Other variants have different gain. I like this concept because it saves me passive components and space on a critical area + the resistors on the chip have better accuracy. R16 and C5 is the low pass filter. INA210 is bi-directional and…
A quick evaluation of 3-Phase- and Stepper- Motor Controllers points out the fact that a Stepper Motor only need an extra half bridge driver. Taking our current PCB layout this adds ca 5mm width on the 3-phase driver, so it makes sense combining the two. This also means that I add current sensor and BEMF…
This block diagram is DRV8711, a Stepper Motor Pre-Amplifier from TI. This cost around 5.- USD as samples, so I am not sure I want to bother about it. But, I find it very interesting because it has an easy step/pwm interface as well as a more complex SPI. It adds features like stall detect…
I actually bought a breakout board for STM32F030F4 and discovered that it could not be mounted on a bread-/vero-board. I prefer making proper PCB’s, but I use breakout boards a lot during concept testing. This one is breadboard friendly and can either be mounted standing up or with both sides down. The connector on top…
This is a 4 x half bridge driver with a current sensor. I decided to create a pure driver board because I intend to destroy these in testing to learn it’s actual capacity. I don’t want a MCU mounted on things I expect to be overheated. It is at the same time a bit cool to have…
This show a classic HEXFET half-bridge driver. IR2103 takes 3.3V logic in form of PWM and convert it into levels that can drive the HEXFET’s. This is called a Gate Driver. It’s purpose is to deliver signals on correct voltage levels to drive the HEXFET’s. A typical minimum for a gate driver is 10ich Volt. The…
This is a 1.27 pitch cable soldered directly to my PWM driver. It was easier to do than I first feared with a few tricks. But, I am a bit concerned that my soldering skills are far above average for a hobbyist. This takes a bit of training to get right. I have this issue…