Readme

• I am not a pro so I am sure things are a bit messy
• This uses KiCad 8.x
• The initial production and assembly quote was through JLCPCB

Overview

If you want to get started and just view things in KiCad:

• Clone the repo
• Download KiCad
• Open the haydenThingy project

There will be a lot of stuff in the folder but there are really only two things to look at: the HaydenThingy schematic and pcb. You can view those by opening the Schematic editor and the PCB editor.

Initial version of the board

The first version of the board just combines the connections of the original three boards onto one PCB. The ESP-32 and the LTE board attach via headers and the RS-485 breakout board was just incorporated into the PCB.

The larger board is a pretty simple board, all of the components are one once side, it is a large rectangle, and there are M3 holes for mounting on each corner.

Next Steps

• Probably the first thing to do with this board is to order a low-volume run as a prototype to ensure everything fits/works as intended.

Easy improvements to make

These are obvious and easy things that could be changed.

• The positioning of all of the components can be changed to make things slightly more compact or better
• You can make it more compact by mouting components on both sides (you can probably mount the LTE and ESP-32 boards on the front and back)
• Mounting holes can be changed and more can be added.

Medium improvements to make?

• Put the battery connector on the PCB if it makes things easier
• Get rid of the screw terminal and put downstream components on the board directly (jst connectors for sensors, etc)

Hard improvements

• Incorporate the ESP-32 and USB-C directly into the PCB
• Do the same for the LTE Board

How do?

Very brief KiCad workflow

1. Create a schematic. The Schematic has all of the components on a drawing and represents the various connections. To make a schematic you add SYMBOLS, which are essentially generic representations of various components. Once you have symbols you add connections between the various symbols. You can draw wires on a schematic, but usually you use labels to keep things clean.
2. Associate your symbols with FOOTPRINTS a footprint is literally the physical footprint your component has on the PCB. It is the size, pad, locations, etc. For example you could have a generic symbol for a resistor in your schematic but you specify the physical shape of the resistor using a footprint. For items like resistors there are a standard set of symbols and footprints that KiCad has in its builtin library.
3. Once you have a schematic and footprints you can create a PCB by laying out the footprints and drawing traces.

Specifics to this board

• It is not normal for things to connect via headers since EEs know what they are doing. The ESP-32 board had a footprint available from sparkfun since it fits one of their standard board layouts, but the LTE one did not and I had to make one.

• The