I was wondering if there would be any interest in some XMEGA dev boards I have made for a school project. It has an AT90USB162 on board as well to handle USB. All programming of the XMEGA will be over USB using the PDI (no external programmer required). The XMEGA can also use the USB as a general communication interface via a USB-SPI bridge. There is a serial SRAM, SD card slot, audio amp, temp. sensor, 5-way switch, and 4 LED's. All of the XMEGA port pins are routed to headers and the external peripherals are connected via solder jumpers so that all pins can be available. It is about the size of an AVR Dragon. A photo is available at http://xmega.mattair.net/JM-XD20...
Pricing is the difficult part for me. I was thinking around $100. I have to hand assemble them, which is a pain, so that may be too low. I can't mass produce them (yet).
It's tricky isn't it? - I think the person with the first sub-$50 board is going to sell them like the proverbial hot-cakes but it takes quite a gamble to buy the components in the kind of quantity where you could benefit from economies of scale to make a profit on something at that price.
To be honest, I think you will loose money. You probably have to sell them below cost price to be able to sell them, perhaps your board becomes a hot item and maybe then you can consider having them produced in bigger quantities (with the risk you won't be able to sell them). Maybe then you can make a bit of profit. But big sales also means a lot of cost and time to handle incoming orders, administration, storage etc etc. Don't forget warranty, returns and support. What about marketing?
I think that if you can sell a few hundred you have done very well.
But I bet you sure will be tired of soldering after 100 or so of em..... thats what board houses do. Take orders and deposit in advance contingent on getting about 80 or 90 on order?
I think if you plan on making a profit off those the minimum order quantity you should aim for is one thousand per order. Price breaks for parts starts there for any serious discount, and 1000 qty drastically reduces board cost. For such a small and simple board, you can have whatever fab house assemble them for you, and still come out with a price less per board than if you ordered in 100 qty and assembled yourself.
For prototypes, never EVER order boards in less than 10 qty. Price of 10 boards often == price of one board.
I for one would be very interested in a smallish board all populated with pre-programmed bootloader for about 50$.
If someone would just make an Xmega based Arduino. The 1280 based Arduino Mega is $65: http://www.nkcelectronics.com/ar... surely it must be possible to simply replace the 1280 with a 128A1 for similar money?
It's tricky isn't it? - I think the person with the first sub-$50 board is going to sell them like the proverbial hot-cakes
My concern would not be so much to reach the sub $50 range, but that Atmel might have managed to miss the window of opportunity for the xmegas with their policy. So there might not be much demand.
There are boards coming close to the sub $50 range, e.g. this one, but there doesn't seem to be a rush towards the board.
I was wondering if there would be any interest in some XMEGA dev boards I have made for a school project. It has an AT90USB162 on board as well to handle USB. All programming of the XMEGA will be over USB using the PDI (no external programmer required). The XMEGA can also use the USB as a general communication interface via a USB-SPI bridge. There is a serial SRAM, SD card slot, audio amp, temp. sensor, 5-way switch, and 4 LED's. All of the XMEGA port pins are routed to headers and the external peripherals are connected via solder jumpers so that all pins can be available. It is about the size of an AVR Dragon. A photo is available at http://xmega.mattair.net/JM-XD20...
nice!
If you have a ton of PCBs some people may be interested in just the bare board.
Thanks for the feedback. I have worked at an assembly house and have experience with most processes (stencil, solder paste, pick and place, reflow, wave solder, rework, etc) so I was considering doing the manufacturing myself (I just need a stencil and paste). Overhead costs shouldn't be that much based on past experience. Marketing might be tricky though. Bear in mind that this is not my main job, and the boards would be "brown box". I want to gain experience with the XMEGA now, because I think it will eventually do better, especially after the smaller ones become available. I have considered selling the same board without the peripherals for around $65. It would have just the essentials (including USB). Maybe I should look into porting Arduino?
Posted by wandererwolf: Mon. Sep 28, 2009 - 01:02 PM
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I got tired of waiting for someone to release a simple XMega board to try out the new chip. So I made one myself; basically just landing for the atxmega64a3 TQFP-64, 3.3V regulator, spot for crystal (which you don't really need since it has a nice internal PLL which can run up to 32MHz), standard 5V jack and bring out all the pins including the new PDI ISP connection and standard JTAG 2x5 connector.
The boards are out for Fab and should be ready in a couple of weeks. And yes, I had a few extra made to sell to anyone interested. :-)
Posted by wandererwolf: Tue. Sep 29, 2009 - 11:46 AM
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Sure. Here's a screen shot of the Eagle Layout. I'm thinking of spinning a second smaller board with one of the TQFP-44 parts. Leaning towards the Xmega64a4.
Why not make a board in Arduino format (or Arduino Mega format) with an Xmega on it? You'll have to come up with an Arduino compatible boot loader, but that's probably already available.
I just recently finished a development board for my university as a theses project.
It features an XMEGA A3, ENC28J60 ethernet controller, power over USB and USB controller, JTAG, 4 switches and 4 LEDs, 10 pin connectors to PORT A, B and C, and is fully compatible with the Tuxgraphics TCP/IP stack. (implemented and tested)
The "do it yourself" price for 1 unit was about 60 USD.
Let me know if this sounds interesting and i can post a separate thread with more details.
Posted by swift1984m: Mon. Oct 21, 2013 - 09:49 AM
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When I ran out of timers I started looking for options and read about Xmega.
Reading this chain of conversation was interesting, as many opposed developing an xmega dev board.
it is 6 years since this conversation, I do not see xmega being popular till now.
What do you think, what is going to happen with xmega.
it is 6 years since this conversation, I do not see xmega being popular till now.
What do you think, what is going to happen with xmega.
What makes you think the Xmega is not popular. Atmel have now released 10's of different chip designs and the thousands of posts in the Xmega forum shows that they are being widely used. Atmel wouldn't continue to release new chip designs (like the very interesting, recent E5) if the design were a lame duck and you wouldn't get all the chatter about them if no one was using them.
(having said that it's true that with Cortex M0/M0+ at 8bit prices quite a few people might consider a tiny/mega->ARM move rather than a tiny/mega->Xmega move these days).
I was wondering if there would be any interest in some XMEGA dev boards I have made for a school project. It has an AT90USB162 on board as well to handle USB. All programming of the XMEGA will be over USB using the PDI (no external programmer required). The XMEGA can also use the USB as a general communication interface via a USB-SPI bridge. There is a serial SRAM, SD card slot, audio amp, temp. sensor, 5-way switch, and 4 LED's. All of the XMEGA port pins are routed to headers and the external peripherals are connected via solder jumpers so that all pins can be available. It is about the size of an AVR Dragon. A photo is available at http://xmega.mattair.net/JM-XD20...
https://www.mattairtech.com/
ARM Cortex M and XMEGA development boards / Gentoo Linux
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TopWhat determines your path to millionaire-dom here is exactly what price you think you can sell these for. ;-)
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TopPricing is the difficult part for me. I was thinking around $100. I have to hand assemble them, which is a pain, so that may be too low. I can't mass produce them (yet).
https://www.mattairtech.com/
ARM Cortex M and XMEGA development boards / Gentoo Linux
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TopIt's tricky isn't it? - I think the person with the first sub-$50 board is going to sell them like the proverbial hot-cakes but it takes quite a gamble to buy the components in the kind of quantity where you could benefit from economies of scale to make a profit on something at that price.
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TopTo be honest, I think you will loose money. You probably have to sell them below cost price to be able to sell them, perhaps your board becomes a hot item and maybe then you can consider having them produced in bigger quantities (with the risk you won't be able to sell them). Maybe then you can make a bit of profit. But big sales also means a lot of cost and time to handle incoming orders, administration, storage etc etc. Don't forget warranty, returns and support. What about marketing?
I think that if you can sell a few hundred you have done very well.
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TopBut I bet you sure will be tired of soldering after 100 or so of em..... thats what board houses do. Take orders and deposit in advance contingent on getting about 80 or 90 on order?
Imagecraft compiler user
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TopI think if you plan on making a profit off those the minimum order quantity you should aim for is one thousand per order. Price breaks for parts starts there for any serious discount, and 1000 qty drastically reduces board cost. For such a small and simple board, you can have whatever fab house assemble them for you, and still come out with a price less per board than if you ordered in 100 qty and assembled yourself.
For prototypes, never EVER order boards in less than 10 qty. Price of 10 boards often == price of one board.
I for one would be very interested in a smallish board all populated with pre-programmed bootloader for about 50$.
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TopIf someone would just make an Xmega based Arduino. The 1280 based Arduino Mega is $65: http://www.nkcelectronics.com/ar... surely it must be possible to simply replace the 1280 with a 128A1 for similar money?
Actually I'd be pretty happy if the mega128 on this $32 board: http://www.saelig.com/product/IC... were replaced with a 128A1
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Top@physicist
I sent you an PM.
I just suggested he contact my old employer and ask for a quote on assembling his/her board.
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TopThere are boards coming close to the sub $50 range, e.g. this one, but there doesn't seem to be a rush towards the board.
http://www.alvidi.de/shop/produc...
39,90 Euro = $56.8 single qty incl. tax. Excluding tax you are below $50, but your customs will than make sure it won't stay this way.
If you take 10 the price is still $52.6 incl. tax.
Stealing Proteus doesn't make you an engineer.
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Topnice!
If you have a ton of PCBs some people may be interested in just the bare board.
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TopThanks for the feedback. I have worked at an assembly house and have experience with most processes (stencil, solder paste, pick and place, reflow, wave solder, rework, etc) so I was considering doing the manufacturing myself (I just need a stencil and paste). Overhead costs shouldn't be that much based on past experience. Marketing might be tricky though. Bear in mind that this is not my main job, and the boards would be "brown box". I want to gain experience with the XMEGA now, because I think it will eventually do better, especially after the smaller ones become available. I have considered selling the same board without the peripherals for around $65. It would have just the essentials (including USB). Maybe I should look into porting Arduino?
https://www.mattairtech.com/
ARM Cortex M and XMEGA development boards / Gentoo Linux
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TopI got tired of waiting for someone to release a simple XMega board to try out the new chip. So I made one myself; basically just landing for the atxmega64a3 TQFP-64, 3.3V regulator, spot for crystal (which you don't really need since it has a nice internal PLL which can run up to 32MHz), standard 5V jack and bring out all the pins including the new PDI ISP connection and standard JTAG 2x5 connector.
The boards are out for Fab and should be ready in a couple of weeks. And yes, I had a few extra made to sell to anyone interested. :-)
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TopI am interested, could you post a picture of the design?
thanks
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TopSure. Here's a screen shot of the Eagle Layout. I'm thinking of spinning a second smaller board with one of the TQFP-44 parts. Leaning towards the Xmega64a4.
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TopWhy not make a board in Arduino format (or Arduino Mega format) with an Xmega on it? You'll have to come up with an Arduino compatible boot loader, but that's probably already available.
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TopI just recently finished a development board for my university as a theses project.
It features an XMEGA A3, ENC28J60 ethernet controller, power over USB and USB controller, JTAG, 4 switches and 4 LEDs, 10 pin connectors to PORT A, B and C, and is fully compatible with the Tuxgraphics TCP/IP stack. (implemented and tested)
The "do it yourself" price for 1 unit was about 60 USD.
Let me know if this sounds interesting and i can post a separate thread with more details.
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TopYes, this sounds interesting. You can post at
https://www.avrfreaks.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=35933&start=800
https://www.mattairtech.com/
ARM Cortex M and XMEGA development boards / Gentoo Linux
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TopOk, posted in this thread:
https://www.avrfreaks.net/index.p...
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TopWhen I ran out of timers I started looking for options and read about Xmega.
Reading this chain of conversation was interesting, as many opposed developing an xmega dev board.
it is 6 years since this conversation, I do not see xmega being popular till now.
What do you think, what is going to happen with xmega.
Thanks
K
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TopWhat makes you think the Xmega is not popular. Atmel have now released 10's of different chip designs and the thousands of posts in the Xmega forum shows that they are being widely used. Atmel wouldn't continue to release new chip designs (like the very interesting, recent E5) if the design were a lame duck and you wouldn't get all the chatter about them if no one was using them.
(having said that it's true that with Cortex M0/M0+ at 8bit prices quite a few people might consider a tiny/mega->ARM move rather than a tiny/mega->Xmega move these days).
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