It provides acces to the reset button and the LEDs on the BeagleBone when the Cape is installed.
There are some “cases” out there, but nothing official as any case made would not work with all Capes made in the future nor would it handle a stack of four Capes, not knowing of course where the connectors may be located as there are Capes yet tome made, designed, or built…
Gerald
I'm curious about why the cape board is three eights of an inch
shorter on one side than the other, unlike the base board. Looking at
the photos of the DVI cape mounted on the Beaglebone it is not clear
what the purpose of this gap is. If component space is so valuable I
assume there is some reason for it that isn't obvious to me.Also, where does the plastic case I see in the DVI photos come from?
I haven't found a case for the Beaglebone yet. Will this case
accommodate capes and their connectors?Rick
If you are referring to Koen's pictures, I suspect he made it with his
3D printer. Close ups of the images on Flickr show the tattletale
extrusion lines in the sides case. Koen's images make me want to get
off my butt and finally build my own 3D printer. Hmmmm, I might have to
by a second Beaglebone.
-Freeman
Yes, he made his “case” with a 3D printer.
Gerald
Fixed.
One of the holes must have slipped during component edits. Thanks for noticing.
j.
Ok, so the holes are intended to be symmetrical then? Then as long as
I an nitpicking I'll say that on your drawing some of the dimension
numbers are obscured by the dimensioning lines. Can that be fixed?
That still leaves Leon's drawing a bit off, not the written
dimensions, but the actual position of the mounting holes on the left,
by the notch. The way his drawing is labeled you can't tell all the
dimensions unless you assume the holes are symmetrical. Because the
holes on the drawing are out of position it appears that they are not
symmetrical.
In fact, the way that both of your drawings showed the same sort of
displacement although in different ways, are you certain that the
holes are fully symmetrical? Would you double check the Gerber
files? This is a very important measurement.
Rick
I know what you are saying about the cases fitting all boards, but if
cases existed that fit any cape boards, a new cape board could easily
be designed to be compatible with the connector openings in a given
case.
I am thinking in terms of higher volumes than onesy, twosey stuff and
custom cases are pricey. In fact, that is the main reason why I am
considering the Beaglebone, because I think it has some potential of
being a basis for a variety of products... assuming a solution to the
case problem appears.
Rick
> numbers can be figured out. But Jacek's drawing shows the position of
> the two left hand holes to have different horizontal coordinates.> Is this an error in one of the measurements? The discrepancy is only
> 0.025" or it may be a typo. But when I drop a vertical line across
> the two left hand mounting holes in your drawing they are not on the
> same line.Fixed.
One of the holes must have slipped during component edits. Thanks for noticing.j.
Ok, so the holes are intended to be symmetrical then? Then as long as
I an nitpicking I'll say that on your drawing some of the dimension
numbers are obscured by the dimensioning lines. Can that be fixed?
I know, I don't like it either. Unfortunately it's a drawback of the
kicad's dimension tool that the description of the position of the
dimension description is fixed and glued to the center of the line.
The tool has been introduced quite recently, so I hope it will be
fixed in future versions.
In fact, the way that both of your drawings showed the same sort of
displacement although in different ways, are you certain that the
holes are fully symmetrical? Would you double check the Gerber
files? This is a very important measurement.
I triple checked: according to the BB's gerbers, the lines of mounting
holes are parallel to the shorter edges.
j.
I hand-edited the PDF. Still not perfect, but should be easier to read.
j.
That's a lot better. Thanks for your efforts.
Rick
They were symmetrical on the FlyingBone PCB that I took my measurements from. That is why I left off some of the dimensions.
Leon
Thanks, Rick.
I've corrected the position of the lower left mounting hole.
Leon
Thanks for making the effort to make the info available. Let me know
when you update the PDF file on the web.
Rick
I've updated it.
Leon
There is a 3D Sketchup model of the BeagleBone A3 board here:
https://specialcomp.com/beagleboard/bone.htm#42101
Please let me know if you find any issues with it.
Bill Mar
Special Computing
I keep getting the same file. Is there a different link? Or maybe my
browser is somehow not downloading the new file but rather just giving
me the same file. I deleted the old file first.
Rick
It should be dated 28/12/2011, I uploaded it today.
Leon
Sorry, I had uploaded the wrong file. It should be OK now.
Leon
Ok, that's working now. Thanks.
Rick
Give a man a fish… You can help yourself easily by downloading the gerbv Gerber viewer and taking your own measurement. Here, I’ll save you the Google search…
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gerbv/files/latest/download
Once you install it you need to open the Gerber layer (File - Open Layer) and click the “object” you want to get info on. You have to highlight the copper layer in the layer list before you can select an object in that layer. Then right click the object and select “Display object properties”. The info you want will show in the left message panel. I got the following info.
Object type: Flashed aperture
Aperture used: D11
Aperture type: RECTANGLE
Location: (0.275, 0.65)
Layer name: bottom copper
Net label:
In file: bottom_copper.grb
But don’t trust my measurement, take your own and verify it by using other measurements to show this is the correct pin on the correct connector, etc.
Rick
Here is my Pulsonix version of the BeagleBone Cape:
http://www.leonheller.com/Beaglebone/Bone%20Cape.pcb
Leon