@dialfonzo - I have been laying with the two versions with shields and I think I have the holes lined up…
Will upload the files tomorrow.
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Very nice, thanks for that.
I will be ordering boards and parts for everyone and will populate them myself.
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@dialfonzo (and @zenta)
Sounds great
This morning I was playing around some with diptrace and wonder if something like this would be closer to what those of you who would use XBees would want?
I started off with my non-shield version, removed the display connector, removed a few of the 3 pin connections for IO pins, …
replaced barrel connector with screw terminals …
Note: I populated the XBee stuff from older T3.2 board with XBee (I removed the jumpers to enable and instead set them to Serial3 (pins 14 and 15)… It has the LEDS for XBee stuff like RSSI (shows xbee connected) and RX and TX…
Needless to say layout is not cleaned up nor anything routed. But wondering if worth the time and complexity of the XBee stuff. Does remove two TTL level converters and the like.
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Hi @kurte,
Very nice! Will this board include the LSS Adaptor as well?
I always assumed that the LSS adaptor has firmware like the SSC-32. But maybe I was wrong?
Which component is placed on U3?
@zenta, Good to hear from you again! I was wondering if you also prefer a screw terminal over the XT60 connector. I’ve got XT60 connector on my lipo which I could plug directly in the board. No need for a “floating” connector. Are you using different connectors?
The LSS Adapter has been created as a power & communication distribution board for 6 different LSS bus (multiple LSS can be connected on each bus).
It also make connections for different serial communications (XBee / Arduino / USB) and XT60 input
Nothing more, no on board MCU
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U3 is a Voltage Regulator (actually DC DC converter) like one of:
I believe I set it up that can use one of the less output versions like their one amp as well…
Note: in earlier boards I used some different converts. like a LD29150DT50R which can work, but they convert a lot of the extra voltage to heat…
The other ones I have used include:
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/murata-power-solutions-inc/OKI-78SR-5-1-5-W36-C/2259781
Which is the Trossen Arbotix boards used. I am happy to convert back to this one as it is may be easier for others to get and it probably uses a smaller footprint on the board. The reason I converted to Pololu is on the off chance I went to higher voltage servos with higher voltages (4S lipo) although these now can take up to 36v…
The only thing the LSS adapter has on it, for servos is the power distribution, plus routing of the TX and RX pin.
Also jumpers to choose where TX and RX for servos come from. Either from the shield pins or from USB through an FTDI chip.
It has a +5v and 3.3v VR. Not sure how much current each one can do.
And for XBees it has switch to choose which wires go to it.
It does not have any processor or the like on it. So it mainly just routs the signals.
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Hi @kurte,
Good to see your having fun! That single board looks interesting, the XBee is an convenient option for sure. I’ve been using the Pro version lately, is that the extended square close to the T4.1? At first we might just keep focus on the shield versions and maybe come back to this one later?
Likewise @xan, To be honest I prefer screw terminals on the board since I like having a switch and a fuse between the board and the LiPo. Another option is to simply have a pigtail. A pigtail is a solution where you solder short power-wires directly to the board and have a plug in the other end. Then again, one of the main advantages of having the XT60 directly soldered to the board like on the LSS-ADA is safety. I’ve seen some examples of bad screw connections where the wires are close to make a dangerous short. I’m using LiPo’s with both XT60’s and Deans (T-plugs). But the XT60 are safer and better than the Deans.
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FYI I am updating my github with the changes for the two versions of shields; hopefully with everything in the right place:
3d of the main one
And the simple one:
Note with simple one converted back to 3d of T3.6 instead of the generated 4.1 as the 4.1 generated one was huge and took long time to load, plus to monochrome…
Just for the fun of it, I filled in more of a kitchen sink XBee possible XBee++ version:
Still cleaning it up some as some of the extra pins I added may interfere with plugging in SD cards…
Here is the actual PCB so far…
Why I call it the kitchen sink:
Again it has all of the normal IO pins brought out. A lot of them have 3 pin headers, some with +5v and some 3.3v.
XBee, I believe with room for XBee pro, yes that was the extra below it. But again not 100% sure if fit all really large xbees…
Also has leds for RX, TX and RSSI which are shown to the left of XBee
Updated the Qwiic/Stema QT connectors 3d wise to show the right angle ones. Note I should probably update those on the other boards as welll…
For XBee - I was not 100% sure the teensy 3.3v VR would be sufficient so added a 3.3v VR that runs off the 5v DC/DC converter.
You can assemble without it, I put in a solder jumper to connect the 3.3v from Teensy…
USB host connections like others, so can use joysticks and the like here.
Has the 2 TTL level converters in it to run the LSS servos. I believe these boards have more copper connecting the VS and GND pins then my other ones.
Also added back 2 more TTL level converters to pins 24 and 25. This gives a few interesting options. Like experiment the with TTL level RC receivers. In particular Flysky IBUS connections. Or if you don’t want these you can also use them to play with Neopixels and/or DotStar as these two pins are a UART TX/RX and also SCL2/SDA2…
Again I may play a little more and order new sets to see if anything works.
Getting closer I think 
Forgot to mention it also has two LEDs on pins 31 and 32, which in this version I moved those up to where I had the +5v versions of pins 24 and 25. Converted those two pins to 3 pin headers and put them where the leds were.
Again this one might be fun 
EDIT: I am wondering about my circuits for the LSS servos on these stand alone boards. That is wondering if the RX and TX should continue to use BSS138 bidirectional level converters, so if I should simplify these:
That is the RX one into Teensy could simply be a two resistor divider circuit: with like near 2K/1K resistors.
The TX pin could be a simple transistor like maybe like: 74LV1T125 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/texas-instruments/SN74LV1T125DBVR/4555571)
Just wondering so asked question up on Teensy forum:
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This variation seems to be the easiest / fastest to produce and makes use of the LSS Adapter. Could the logic level conversion (RB-Spa-879?) be integrated into the board?
Good Morning @cbenson,
Yes - the RP-Spa-879
Is the Sparkfun level converter which I used for this one. including the 3d image…
Should work as shown, but could also do a quick version of this, which maybe does some of the following;
a) remove the 2 LSS servo connectors here and/or switch to one with your right angled connector?
b) Qwiic connectors, the one twoard lower right (JQW1) could be converted to one that plugs cables into side instead of top.
c) Board could be taller by .2 or .4 inches and move the Voltage (3.3v/5v) and grounds out to be groups of 3 pin servo like connectors, or only by a little bit and see if double rows of pins would work without it using Right angle breakout pins?
d) ??? any other ideas of simple changes?
Just a personal opinion, but will need to consult with the team:
a) remove the 2 LSS servo connectors here and/or switch to one with your right angled connector?
This seemed like a logical addition - doesn’t replace the LSS Adapter, but does allow LSS to be connected and powered via the neighboring pin headers.
b) Qwiic connectors, the one twoard lower right (JQW1) could be converted to one that plugs cables into side instead of top.
Not sure how widespread the use of QWIIC is yet.
c) Board could be taller by .2 or .4 inches and move the Voltage (3.3v/5v) and grounds out to be groups of 3 pin servo like connectors, or only by a little bit and see if double rows of pins would work without it using Right angle breakout pins?
It would seem the shorter (and smaller) the better if it will be stacked below the LSS Adapter.
d) ??? any other ideas of simple changes?
For current testing by the group, would suggest leaving it as is for the initial prototype to save time so we can create and ship the boards ASAP. The first “raison d’être” is to use the Teensy 4.1 with the LSS (and the LSS Adapter as a shield which everyone has here already) on the Hexapod and quad which this board does without issue.
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@cbenson and @dialfonzo
Here is a slightly updated one. Mainly did things like clean up a few etches. Increased VIN (connections between the two LSS connectors, plus the jumpers, plus to the VIN of shield to 70 mil and made sure lots of copper fill for GND on bottom…
Updated 3D of the Qwiic connectors.
Things I have done with QWIIC, that can come in handy include:
Simple display, like:
Or keypad: fun to choose some option quickly:
Or IMU:
Also Adafruit has ones as well:
Note: I changed the directory this was stored in in my project. All in the T41_LSS subdirectory.
I updated files with these changes.
Let me know if you see anything off…
Quick update: I went ahead for my own fun and ordered 5 each of 3 different designs, from PCBWAY ($35 including DHL)
- The Shield one with discrete components
- The Shield using the Sparkfun level converter
- Kitchen sink
Not sure how long it will take to get here as they are still in CNY, but they say they are still doing 2 layer boards during this time.
As I mentioned all of the files have been moved into one directory on github:
The zip files include all of the gerber and drill files, that you can simply upload to places like PCBWAY, OSHPARK, SEEEDSTUDIO…
Now back to playing
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I’m starting to imagine what your workshop might look like. Lots of partial PCBs, components and hardware everywhere, and some amazing completed projects in the mix?
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Actually very few finished and intact projects… Too many distractions and wonder if I did…
For me the fun is the journey
Had some issues importing in the CAD software but here is the general idea of @kurte simple shield.
(i haven’t populated all the parts)
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Just a quick FYI to everyone. The “Simple” shield version I had, has an issue with it that I assumed that the LSS shield would provide +5v through the Arduino headers from it’s built in Voltage regulator… It does not…
So worked with @dialfonzo and modified it to add a VR, plus the option to make it not so simple and instead of use the Sparkfun TTL level converter, give you the option to populate it with the 8 resistors (this time 0603) and with 4 Transistors…
3D look - showing with Sparkfun adapter
Now back to playing
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The PCB’s just above from @kurte are already ordered / processed / shipped and we should have them soon.
Order for the components is also on the way.
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