[TriEmbed] Advice Needed

[Glen Smith]

Well, Charles has one up on me, I've never been to a meeting, but I have
downloaded KiCAD and watched a couple videos, then got lost. I was hoping
that TechShop was going to do a class, but I guess that's out the window. I
would try very hard to find time to attend a KiCAD class.

Glen


On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 1:25 AM, Pete Soper <pete at soper.us> wrote:

> As I understand it a license to use the "lite' version of Eagle for
> stuff you want to sell is well under $100. For the unconstrained version
> the licenses is something like $800.
>
> It would be nice to get a KiCAD class going, even if it starts out in
> 'blind leading the blind' mode at first.
>
> -Pete
>
> On 10/3/2013 10:17 PM, The MacDougals wrote:
> > Hi Chip, we certainly encourage this kind of discussion on this forum.
> > I do not know which meeting you attended, but there were discussions at
> > recent meetings that certainly apply here.
> >
> > The presentation I did on programming ATtiny's is a good way to avoid the
> > cost of a full blown Arduino.
> > See http://www.triembed.org/ for a link to slides and a YouTube video.
> > If you can use three AAA batteries, you will not need a voltage
> regulator.
> > I am working on a board at the moment that will turn on a drip irrigation
> > system using an ATtiny84 and a N-MOSFET to drive a DC motor.
> > I downloaded Eagle to design my own circuit boards and was quickly
> > disillusioned.  Electronic CAD software is made
> > by HW engineers and often lacks an intuitive user interface.  I switched
> to
> > Fritzing and was quickly productive (it too lacks
> > a good user interface).  After a bit, though, I went back to Eagle and
> use
> > it now to design small boards that I have fabbed by
> > OSH Park http://oshpark.com.  They charge $5 per square inch for
> quantity 3
> > boards and have really high quality double sided boards delivered within
> 2
> > weeks.
> > Most of my boards are less than three square inches.  My trick to getting
> > familiar with Eagle was to watch a series of YouTube videos (sorry
> > I do not have the URL at the moment).  They were very helpful.  SparkFun
> has
> > downloads of Eagle parts libraries for most of the stuff they sell.
> > I have designed a few of my own parts.
> >
> > Bring what you have to the next meeting and we can all help you with
> > reducing your BOM.
> >
> > Oh, I guess I should say that I think the free version of Eagle is not
> for
> > designing stuff you sell, so you should purchase a license with your
> initial
> > profits.
> >
> > ---> Paul MacDougal
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: TriEmbed [mailto:triembed-bounces at triembed.org] On Behalf Of
> Charles
> > McClelland
> > Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2013 9:14 PM
> > To: triembed at triembed.org
> > Subject: [TriEmbed] Advice Needed
> >
> > TriEmbed,
> >
> > I have only been able to make it to one meeting but I hope to be in town
> to
> > make more going forward.  I hope it is OK for a newbie like me to ask a
> > question.
> >
> > I figured out one of the best ways to learn about the Arduino was to
> build
> > something that someone might actually want to buy.  For my first
> project, I
> > built a system that monitors soil moisture and will pump water to the
> plan
> > to ensure it is kept in an adjustable range.  I have a few (superfluous?)
> > extras to provide feedback on the soil moisture, sound an alarm if the
> soil
> > get's too moist, not water at night, allow adjusting of the soil moisture
> > level, prime the pump and sound an alarm when you run out of water.  It
> all
> > works the way I want it to.
> >
> > Now the part I need advice on - turning this into something I can sell -
> > unit of one is fine - on eBay.  I think the next steps are:
> >       1) Cost optimization - I am using a Sparkfrun ProtoBoard and other
> > expensive components - how can I get the cost of the components down to
> > under $10?
> >       2) Develop a custom circuit board - Though not required for a unit
> > of one production, I want to learn this process.  I tried downloading
> Eagle
> > but have not made much progress.
> >       3) Develop / Buy an enclosure - All this needs to be packaged in a
> > way that looks semi-professional.
> >
> >
> > Any ideas on how to get smart about this process?  Should I simply bring
> > this little project to the next meeting?  I appreciate any and all
> advice.
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> >
> > Chip
> > _______________________________________________
> > Triangle, NC Embedded Computing mailing list TriEmbed at triembed.org
> > http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org
> > TriEmbed web site: http://TriEmbed.org
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > TriEmbed at triembed.org
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> > TriEmbed web site: http://TriEmbed.org
> >
>
>
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