The following is a list of proposed topics/goals for future meetings of the LTC3 team. I've separated them into two more-or-less independent tracks: LTC3 development and tutorials. Additions and corrections are encouraged.
Development ----------- In which we work on tasks directly related to the design of LTC3. 1. Create rough draft of functional spec. 2. Meet with LTC3 stakeholders to review functional spec draft. 3. Revise functional spec according to review feedback. 4. Create rough draft of design spec. 5. Meet with LTC3 stakeholders to review design spec draft. 6. Revise design spec according to review feedback. 7. Begin design of schematic(s). 8. Proto builds. 9. PCB layout. 10. PCB manufacture. 11. PCB assembly. 12. Profit! Tutorials --------- In which we help each other learn all the things we'll need to know in order to not screw up the design of LTC3. 1. Intro to BeagleBone Black (BBB) Familiarize ourselves with the board's capabilities; briefly play with the software it ships with (Debian plus applications); connect to it through the serial console; explore U-Boot; boot from alternate media (e.g., on-board MMC, SD card, NFS, etc.). 2. BBB Power Sources Experiment with powering the BBB via pin header voltage rails. Design a simple voltage regulator circuit and implement it on the BBB dev kit breadboard. 3. BBB GPIO Basics Learn about the various expansion pins available; how to configure them with device tree overlays; how to access them. Blink a few LEDs for good measure. 4. BBB ADC Basics Learn how to measure voltages with the BBB's built-in ADCs. 5. I2C and/or SPI Basics Learn how to interface with off-board peripheral ICs. Use the BBB to access a simple sensor IC (accelerometer, light, temp., etc.). 6. Interfacing w/ heavy and/or inductive loads. Learn how to control heavy and/or inductive loads from a microcontroller without killing the silicone. Relays, PWM, etc. If you have ~US$100 burning a hole in your pocket, consider AdaFruit's BBB development kit and UART-to-USB cable: https://www.adafruit.com/product/703 https://www.adafruit.com/product/954 I also recommend the book "Designing Embedded Hardware", by John Catsoulis. It's a good overview of the topics we'll be dealing with: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596007553.do Time permitting, once we've spent some time covering the basics of embedded hardware I think it would be helpful if we each design and construct a very simple board before we take on the actual LTC. Each of us can choose our own board to design, layout, have fab'd by OSH Park, and stuff. -- Paul _______________________________________________ psas-avionics mailing list psas-avionics@lists.psas.pdx.edu http://lists.psas.pdx.edu/mailman/listinfo/psas-avionics
