DIY OpenBCI boards, topic or discord channel?
MatthewCaine
Poland
Hi everyone!
As all of you know, making the board yourself is a very big struggle. Some parts are obsolete, the schemes are not updated for errors...
I am creating this discussion because I have a proposition - let's have a discussion topic or make a discord channel to gather all the information about ' how2make openBCI boards by yourself '. After we have all the data I can create a:
- post on the forum with tutorial
- post on the community tab
- (if 2 previous are not allowed) a separate webpage with the tutorial
I was trying to get the info about making the board a few months ago but I guess all the people I talked about it gave up coz none of them are active here anymore. I believe it would be better to have some nice means of contact. I hope this discussion is not against the rules of the forum if so please tell me how can I organize something like that - all I want is to gather information from ppl that either made or are making the boards by themselves to have the data so other people don't struggle because a part is obsolete or given scheme has mistake caught 6 years ago and is not updated...
Comments
Matthew, hi.
Here's a suggestion. This category on the forum has all the previous posts regarding DIY boards.
https://openbci.com/forum/index.php?p=/categories/build-it-yourself
Some of those posting have been successful in figuring out how to get around certain limitations, such as lack of the RFduino radios for the Cyton board. (They instead used another type of radio chip or wifi.) My suggestion would be to Private Message those users who have what you need, and start a conversation via email. Once you have the information you are looking for you can post back here on the forum. (You PM someone by clicking on their bold face name, then the Message button on their profile page.
Regards, William
I think that is a great idea! We really need some up to date information on how to deal with all the obsolete parts.
Those are really big barriers.
I am happy to contribute, even though I also do not have a solution at the moment.
Dear Wjcroft,
Yes I am aware of the forum and I saw all the completed projects but there is still confusion in my mind like for example I am not sure if the SD card I have in mind is good with the project since the original one is basically impossible to find. Also, the 4 capacitor array is a problem - I cannot find 0805*4 1000pF alternatives to it in any store.
Update: For now I started to make a new datasheet with BOM based on the previous one made by Ak1n
( attached excel file here )
I'm also curious about this. Have the bare PCBs ever been sold via the openBCI store, or is there any plan to? I'm a new member and not sure if this has been discussed before, but I didn't find anything by searching except the general comments here.
With a mid-size run of boards, I'm guessing the total parts cost could be ~$100, which is a lot more accessible than $500. (Though I can of course respect that $500 is cheap for research and it's pretty cool that the assembled versions exist for non-hardware people!)
Morus, hi. PCB boards / parts kits have never been sold by OpenBCI, and there are no plans to do this. You can contact other forum members in this category link, if you wish to coordinate such purchases.
https://openbci.com/forum/categories/build-it-yourself
Regards, William
Dear William, I am wondering how you as the openbci-team plan to proceed with the eol of the so far used rfduino chip. Can one expect an updated cyton on the shop soon? Best, domatsa
Hi Domatsa. There are a number of threads in the Build-it-yourself category, mentioning alternative radio or wired usb schemes that can workaround the unavailability of the RFduino for DIY builders. No Cyton hardware updates are scheduled, as far as I am aware.
Regards, William
Hi william, thanks for your fast reply. My question was more referring to the point that the rfduino eol does also affect you (not only the diy builders) as the radio is not available since quite a while. How long will / can you sell the cyton board? My fear is to order a 499 $ cyton board that will be soon replaced by a new or updated version?
Best, domatsa
No, OpenBCI manufacturing has an adequate supply of RFduinos to fulfill future needs. BUT, not so many that they are selling RFduino stock parts to others. The parts were warehoused in anticipation of Cyton order volume over a period of years. There are no Cyton updates scheduled, as all parts needed are warehoused.