Topic: Pictures of my new RED amp build

[corwyyn]

OK it's not what you think.  Since shipments of new kits had been on hold the past few weeks I decided to put together a virtual amp board:


I figured if it worked out like I planned it might make a nice reference for others who will soon be building their kits and if the design gets revised it shouldn't take long to update the 3D model to account for the changes.  A couple of things that can be done is to render the image without the lighting reflections to make it easier to read the markings on the components, plus I can also change the camera to show an orthogonal view which eliminates the perspective effects of using a regular camera lens at close range to a real board:


So take a look at the images and let me know if anything sticks out that might need to be fixed.  I didn't go into super detail on the components but tried to make them represent the actual components as well as I could.  I can also place the various component types on different layers to allow for showing only one type (for example all of the resistors) while hiding the other components from view. 


NOTE: attachments below are at full render size (1920x1080), just right-click and chose 'open in new window' then you'll be able to show them full-sized.

[JonathanW]

What did you use?  KiCAD?

[miraculon]

Don aka W3DRM,

This would be a great addition to your doc package.

Great work corwyyn. 

FWIW, I line up my ceramic caps show the values like you did in your 3D CAD rendering. Makes it easier to verify later if needed without turning the board around.

Greg H.

[corwyyn]

What did you use?  KiCAD?

Blender  3D modeling software - free, open source and pretty powerful, a bit of a learning curve but I've been using it for a few years now just piddlin' around.   Has decent rendering capabilities on it's own and if you combine it with Luxrender or something similar you can get photo-quality results.

Greg I tried as much as possible to do the same, like you I figured it would make it easier if I needed to figure something out. 

[Bushman]

Totally freaking impressive!!!  Great work.

[josecmorales]

Wooooooooooow amazing work my friend

[W3DRM]

Don aka W3DRM,

This would be a great addition to your doc package.

Great work corwyyn. 

FWIW, I line up my ceramic caps show the values like you did in your 3D CAD rendering. Makes it easier to verify later if needed without turning the board around.

Greg H.

Greg H. - I agree!!! This is just amazing. I'll have to look into it and see what I can do to incorporate the images into my docs (of course that is providing CORWYYN will allow me to use them for that purpose)...

[corwyyn]

Greg H. - I agree!!! This is just amazing. I'll have to look into it and see what I can do to incorporate the images into my docs (of course that is providing CORWYN will allow me to use them for that purpose)...

Well that is what CORWYYN (two Y's, just sayin'  ) made them for.  Give me a few days while you figure theings out and I should have some newer versions to use.  Worst case scenario we host some larger copies on a website and throw a link to them into the PDF documents. 

[W3DRM]

Greg H. - I agree!!! This is just amazing. I'll have to look into it and see what I can do to incorporate the images into my docs (of course that is providing CORWYN will allow me to use them for that purpose)...

Well that is what CORWYYN (two Y's, just sayin'  ) made them for.  Give me a few days while you figure theings out and I should have some newer versions to use.  Worst case scenario we host some larger copies on a website and throw a link to them into the PDF documents.

Oops. sorry 'bout the misspelling of your name.  It's been corrected 

I won't have any time to do anything with your images for a month or so as I am going on a road-trip (soon, I hope) and won't be back until mid-September.

[schaffer970]

After the beautiful drawings, can't wait to see what your actual board looks like 

[corwyyn]

After the beautiful drawings, can't wait to see what your actual board looks like 

Not as nice as these I can assure you!

[Joel]

Sorry if I criticize but I see a cold joint on C26

Hope it helps

Joël.

[corwyyn]

OK so I've been reworking the model to get a bit better lighting and rendering.  While I'm at it I have a question: since this is meant primarily as an aid for those building their kits would it make sense to maybe move the labels for the ceramic caps to the top so they can be easily seen?  Below is a render with a couple of the 100nF (104) caps shown this way:


I've also added labels to the I.C.s but may change those around a bit to make them easier to read, and I've toyed with the idea of making the small depressions next to pin 1 white to make them stand out but since they don't appear that way on the actual devices it may confuse people.  Any other ideas for making these reference images easier to use are appreciated. 

[92merc]

Looks good to me.  I think having the labels on the top will aide for correct placement of items.  I would think a white dot on pin 1 would be the easiest to see.

What I'd be curious about is if a board was blown up to standard 8½x11 inch paper size, would the color codes on the resistors and other labels be good enough to read to use as a better guide.  The install instructions of course would be the first line in making sure things are in the right place.  This would be the double check after you go though each section.

Good work.

[miraculon]

I like the nomenclature on the top, even if it is not "photo realistic".
Is there a way to do something similar with the resistors for reference designation?
Once the part is in the board, it covers the ref des.
I had to refer to the bare board photos to find where the part is when I am looking at a schematic.
Maybe you could just have a bare-board rendering in addition to the populated ones. (are the parts on a CAD layer?)

Greg H.

[Einar]

I suggest you do the marking as they are on the chip.
Show ##### for the date code.
And by all means show right way of placement!
On one of my designs there is a double motor driver chip that have the dot NOT where pin 1 is!!
When I leave the mounting to anyone else I give them an image of a correctly installed chip. A photographed picture.
The first 2 I managed to install the wrong way around myself. Then as power is applied the chip will become a cabriolet and the motors will not start!
Notice that on most SOIC chips the edge where pin 1 is located have a bevelled edge.

[W3DRM]

Kevin, your drawings are getting better and better - GREAT JOB! 

Since these drawings are meant to assist those building their kits, I would suggest showing the pin1 positions on all components that need to be oriented in a specific manner. A white or gray dot on the ICs would be most helpful. When I put together my kits, I actually placed a silver dot in the depression of each IC so I could visually see the pin1. On the electrolytic caps, a small + or - would also assist in correct orientation of the cap. I do like the idea of having numbers on the small caps and the R# on the resistors. A dot on the RN resistor packs would also help with assembly.

[corwyyn]

I like the nomenclature on the top, even if it is not "photo realistic".

Done, see attached image.

Is there a way to do something similar with the resistors for reference designation?
Once the part is in the board, it covers the ref des.
I had to refer to the bare board photos to find where the part is when I am looking at a schematic.
Maybe you could just have a bare-board rendering in addition to the populated ones. (are the parts on a CAD layer?)

I looked at moving the reference designations for the resistors and inductors but for a number of them there is no good location to put them that would be legible while at the same time not causing confusion.  About the best I can come up with right now is a black & white version of the layout that is on pg. 34 of the current RED document from Blitzortung; I've attached a copy of that as well.  I could go thru and clean it up a bit to make some of the locations easier to read. 

[miraculon]

The B&W images will work. The layout shots in the official document are somewhat difficult to read and a jumble of traces, outlines and text. This is better.

Are you going to do the same for the E-Field and Controller boards?

Greg H.

[corwyyn]

OK I'll see if I can clean up the B&W image to make it easier to read.  And yes I plan on starting on the controller model tonight or tomorrow night, probably take a bit less time than the amp since I have most all of the elements already created, making the remainder will not take much time at all.  The E-field will have to wait until I get my kit unless there is some documentation similar to that for the H-field system somewhere around (haven't found any on the BO site as yet).  I don't plan on modelling the discovery board since as far as the system is concerned it is a single component. 

I figure once I get the images done we can post them here on the forum until Don M. has time to update his documents.

[corwyyn]

New amp build image with modifications as listed above.

[corwyyn]

First pass on the controller board (v10.3).  Still plenty left to add but that will have to wait until this coming weekend.

[W3DRM]

Kevin,

Looking good! 

Suggestion/comment. On the lower right-hand side of the board the diode numbers are not clearly visible. How about inserting the diode number on the left-side and between the leads of each. That way it would be easier to see the diode location. Something similar to how the board is marked for the other diodes in the center of the board (D40, D41, etc).

[corwyyn]

I'll see what I can do about that later this weekend Don.  Unfortunately space in that particular section is at a premium and I may have to shrink or otherwise modify the designators; the same thing is going to be needed with all of the capacitors between the two amp connectors and the riser for the discovery board.  Since the text is on a different layer from the pads in the artwork I made I think I might be able to move the designators up so they fall between the pads, might have to decrease the text size a smidge but it should work.  I'm planning to take my system offline for a bit to get some good overall photos of the controller board so I can get some ideas.

[corwyyn]

Alright, second round with the controller.  I think I have everything where it should go, if a couple of folks want to go over it with a critical eye to make sure I didn't swap a resistor here or there it would be appreciated.  This was also a quick render, once everything is done I can run one out with better quality.

Don I did manage to move the diode designators that you commented on, I also tried to figure out something for the ceramic capacitors C49-54 that sit between RN41 and the discovery board riser but there just doesn't seem a good way to do it unless I add then as a text layer in the finished image, possibly overlaid on the riser.  If anyone has ideas I'm more than willing to try things.