<div dir="ltr"><div>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.<br>
<br></div>Glen<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 1:25 AM, Pete Soper <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pete@soper.us" target="_blank">pete@soper.us</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">As I understand it a license to use the "lite' version of Eagle for<br>
stuff you want to sell is well under $100. For the unconstrained version<br>
the licenses is something like $800.<br>
<br>
It would be nice to get a KiCAD class going, even if it starts out in<br>
'blind leading the blind' mode at first.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
-Pete<br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
On 10/3/2013 10:17 PM, The MacDougals wrote:<br>
> Hi Chip, we certainly encourage this kind of discussion on this forum.<br>
> I do not know which meeting you attended, but there were discussions at<br>
> recent meetings that certainly apply here.<br>
><br>
> The presentation I did on programming ATtiny's is a good way to avoid the<br>
> cost of a full blown Arduino.<br>
> See <a href="http://www.triembed.org/" target="_blank">http://www.triembed.org/</a> for a link to slides and a YouTube video.<br>
> If you can use three AAA batteries, you will not need a voltage regulator.<br>
> I am working on a board at the moment that will turn on a drip irrigation<br>
> system using an ATtiny84 and a N-MOSFET to drive a DC motor.<br>
> I downloaded Eagle to design my own circuit boards and was quickly<br>
> disillusioned. Electronic CAD software is made<br>
> by HW engineers and often lacks an intuitive user interface. I switched to<br>
> Fritzing and was quickly productive (it too lacks<br>
> a good user interface). After a bit, though, I went back to Eagle and use<br>
> it now to design small boards that I have fabbed by<br>
> OSH Park <a href="http://oshpark.com" target="_blank">http://oshpark.com</a>. They charge $5 per square inch for quantity 3<br>
> boards and have really high quality double sided boards delivered within 2<br>
> weeks.<br>
> Most of my boards are less than three square inches. My trick to getting<br>
> familiar with Eagle was to watch a series of YouTube videos (sorry<br>
> I do not have the URL at the moment). They were very helpful. SparkFun has<br>
> downloads of Eagle parts libraries for most of the stuff they sell.<br>
> I have designed a few of my own parts.<br>
><br>
> Bring what you have to the next meeting and we can all help you with<br>
> reducing your BOM.<br>
><br>
> Oh, I guess I should say that I think the free version of Eagle is not for<br>
> designing stuff you sell, so you should purchase a license with your initial<br>
> profits.<br>
><br>
> ---> Paul MacDougal<br>
><br>
><br>
> -----Original Message-----<br>
> From: TriEmbed [mailto:<a href="mailto:triembed-bounces@triembed.org">triembed-bounces@triembed.org</a>] On Behalf Of Charles<br>
> McClelland<br>
> Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2013 9:14 PM<br>
> To: <a href="mailto:triembed@triembed.org">triembed@triembed.org</a><br>
> Subject: [TriEmbed] Advice Needed<br>
><br>
> TriEmbed,<br>
><br>
> I have only been able to make it to one meeting but I hope to be in town to<br>
> make more going forward. I hope it is OK for a newbie like me to ask a<br>
> question.<br>
><br>
> I figured out one of the best ways to learn about the Arduino was to build<br>
> something that someone might actually want to buy. For my first project, I<br>
> built a system that monitors soil moisture and will pump water to the plan<br>
> to ensure it is kept in an adjustable range. I have a few (superfluous?)<br>
> extras to provide feedback on the soil moisture, sound an alarm if the soil<br>
> get's too moist, not water at night, allow adjusting of the soil moisture<br>
> level, prime the pump and sound an alarm when you run out of water. It all<br>
> works the way I want it to.<br>
><br>
> Now the part I need advice on - turning this into something I can sell -<br>
> unit of one is fine - on eBay. I think the next steps are:<br>
> 1) Cost optimization - I am using a Sparkfrun ProtoBoard and other<br>
> expensive components - how can I get the cost of the components down to<br>
> under $10?<br>
> 2) Develop a custom circuit board - Though not required for a unit<br>
> of one production, I want to learn this process. I tried downloading Eagle<br>
> but have not made much progress.<br>
> 3) Develop / Buy an enclosure - All this needs to be packaged in a<br>
> way that looks semi-professional.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Any ideas on how to get smart about this process? Should I simply bring<br>
> this little project to the next meeting? I appreciate any and all advice.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Thanks,<br>
><br>
><br>
> Chip<br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
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><br>
><br>
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><br>
<br>
<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>