Powerboard Version Questions

[Adam Morrissett]

The OSH Park link for the Powerboard listed in the F1TENTH BOM shows V4.0. However, when I download the files they are all marked as V2.0. Additionally, the Powerboard in the beta run is V9.0. I do not see any documentation on the difference between the versions or which computation boards (e.g., Jetson TX2, Jetson NX, Jetson Nano) are support by which version.

We are tying to use the Jetson Nano (with the developer kit breakout board) as our computation board. From the beta run description and the V9.0 data sheet, it seems that we can do this without any issues. Can someone help me out?

[Adam Morrissett]

Thanks to Kim Luong for the help. We accidentally had the conversation one on one, so here is the thread in case others have similar questions.

Kim:

Only the pcb was updated for V4.0. The components are the same as V2.0. This board has 12V and 8V outputs and thus does not support the NX.

Adam:

So we should use the BOM in the V9.0 Google Drive instead of the one displayed on the F1TENTH website?

Kim:

The Nano requires a 5V power source. The V2.0/4.0 boards do not have a 5V outlet.

The V9.0 board has a 5V outlet, however almost all of the components are surface mount devices.

Adam:

That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

Is there a specific reason you mention surface mount components?

Kim:

If you are comfortable soldering surface mount components by hand in packages such as QFN and as small as 0603, the board is DIY-able. It is also a 4-layer PCB, hence the higher cost for manufacturing the PCB.

See page 5 of the data sheet for more information.

Adam:

Great! Thank you again. We plan to have our boards fabricated and assembled through Advanced Circuits, so no worries there.

Kim:

I had forgotten to add in a few safeguards when I initially designed this. I would recommend add in a protection diode on the barrel jack line at the very least. 

Adam:

Will do. Thanks for the heads up.