Gerald,
I’m working on a Home Automation/Security System project, and am developing it for the BBB. I expect it to sit in a box for a long time, connected to the network, and connected to various sensors.
I would like to have a board that had physical terminals on it rather than the headers, since this would work better for long term projects such as a networked home security system.
It occurred to me that a board like this may shift some of the demand for the BBB for those that have either production or long-term projects such as mine, and would also justify an increase in cost where it would make it more available.
So, I’m suggesting two boards - one targeted at the initial learning/development phase (the current BBB with headers), and another new board with screw-terminal connectors for longer implementation projects (BBB w/Terms). The new board would be physically larger to handle the terminals, but by placing them on the outer edge of the new board, I would hope the routing from the headers to the terminals could be a simple update to the layout, keeping the interior of the board unchanged.
Thanks,
BBQ
I have no plans to make any such boards. I have all I can handle withe new board under development.
Gerald
If you want to create a version like this, all the design materials have been provided. Feel free to make any of these boards you like.
If I made all the changes that I have been requested, the board would be twice as large and twice as expensive and then I would have people asking me why I added this or added that and suggest that I take it off. This is not a reflection on the value of these suggestions. Just a by product of building a product.
Gerald
That sounds like a job a simple cape would do well – the cape could have a larger size than the BBB board if you wanted to break out every signal.
I’m sure there are eagle files available for the standard cape footprint – you could very easily lay this out yourself hand have (e.g.) seeedstudio’s PCB service fabricate it.
The only minor disadvantages would be increased height (but put the screw terminals on the bottom of the cape if that’s important), and an extra mechanical connection, which theoretically could affect reliability.
Tom,
I appreciate your thoughts on this, but the header connection, which is required for a cape, in my opinion, is a poor long-term connection (stressing long-term here). I’m saying this with years of experience as an electronic technician. Thus the desire for a card that goes directly to terminals rather than the intermediate step of the cape.
Thanks for your thoughts!
BBQ
Capes are a key feature that we offer on this board. Much like what you see in PCs with the concept of plug in boards. If you have ever tried to remove a cape, you will know that these connections are indeed solid and reliable. I do not see an upside to removing that feature at this time.
If you desire something different. I have donated hundreds of hours of engineering time to the community in the form of all the documentation and source files for this board. Feel free to modify it to your requirements and build the board you desire.
Gerald
BBQ – depending on your volume, you could desolder the headers, or get a quote from CircuitCo for a run of BBBs without the headers installed, then use male headers on your board soldered to the header holes on the BBB.
Perhaps there would be other people interested in that – if the fixed costs of CircuitCo doing a special run are high you could run a Kickstarter campaign and try to get more buyers.
Incidentally, while it doesn’t address your connection reliability concerns, this Kickstarter project might interest you: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/532391021/motherbonetmpionetm?ref=discovery
Tom - thanks for remembering me!
That’s an interesting board. Will take a deeper look at it.
BBQ