We put a white stripe on the pin 1 end of all of our cable connectors. The fat, white stripe on the PCB will help those of us with old eyes figure out where pin 1 goes.
Even though most of the signal pins have multiple uses, the board just isn’t big enough for all of the signal names. The names chosen were guesses about how we would use them.
The ceramic caps across 5V and ground are for peace of mind and completely optional. All the LED does is say “this thing has power”.
The board was done in Eagle 7.20. Once we’ve tested it we’ll add a link to the files.
Thanks! The board shop was e-teknet. They were $5.68 each but we bought a bunch of them to thrash/bash/spindle/mutilate/blow up/vaporize/crush and some to give away.
As any of us with PCB design experience already knows, it costs almost as much to buy 5 small boards as it does to buy 50.
I have only ever used oshpark.com to get my boards made. I am a college student and don’t have that much money to get large batches made. Looks good. I will post pictures of my board as soon as it comes in.
The original 34-pin connector in the NI MXP documentation has proven to be hard to get in any quantity. The On-Shore Technology #SH2-34G-P can be replaced directly with Sullins #SFH11-PBPC-D17-ST-BK. As of this morning, Digi-Key has 1775 pieces in stock.
It was for this reason, that we (REV Robotics), put a 34 pin connector into every Kit of Parts this year. If you are looking to build your own boards, it should save you a couple of dollars.
