Pyra-news March 2015

pyra-news@pyra-handheld.com

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4 discussions

It's the keyboard layout.
by Michael Mrozek 23 Mar '15

23 Mar '15

As promised earlier in my news post, here is the thread about the keyboard layout. First of all, thanks for all the discussions and threads you already had here at the boards - a few interesting ideas arose, and one came very close to what I had in mind. Let's start with some facts first: * The keyboard should be standard enough to be used by every normal user * It should be balanced between text typing and coding * It should have most of the keys a normal keyboard has (i.e. Pandora keyboard has issues with DosBox). * The main languages used where the Pandora sold are English, French and German. It should support these languages as good as possible (with English being the main one) * We should have a maximum of three characters per key: One with a single keypress, one with Shift and one with AltGr (which replaces the old Fn-Key) * The most-used keys should get the best positions * The keyboard will have two different colored labels (so basically the same as the Pandora had). * Adding more colors will make things more expensive, and the keymat IS already more expensive because of the backlight. Now, that's all for basic information. Head over to the boards to see the layout and discuss about it! http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/17881-its-the-keyboard-layout/ Follow me on twitter for short news inbetween: https://twitter.com/EvilDragon1717

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Test Drive
by Michael Mrozek 22 Mar '15

22 Mar '15

No pretty pictures today, but a lot of results. Nikolaus has been busy testing all the features the mainboard offers, takes quite some time (seriously). A quick summary upfront: The main PCB only had TWO layout mistakes - and that can be manually fixed within a few minutes and fixed in the layout file (for the production version) within 1 - 2 hours. So yes, the main PCB should be ready for production now - and the display PCB as well. Only missing thing now is the CPU PCB (which is more than halfway done already). Here's a nice list of what has been done: Note: As Nikolaus is currently working on the tests, it could be that some stuff that I put in the untested list has been tested by him already :) Not much left to test anyways :) Tested and working fine: ------------------------ * Display (without using the ssd2858) * Backlight * Nub-Buttons * Keyboard Backlight * BMP180 (Barometric Sensor) * Nubs * FTDI (RS232 over USB) * Power-LEDs * LID-Detect * BMC150 - accelerometer works with hacked bma150 input driver * Panel-I2C * TSC2007 + touch screen * Charging Bypass * Charger * Fuel Gauge * Keyboard * Logo LEDs * Shoulder Buttons * USB-Host Currency Converter * Cinterion Modem (both phone part and GPS) * Modem Ignite Issues found ------------ * Sometimes, I2C hangs (Reset issue) Not yet tested -------------- * CRTOUCH - we don't have a driver yet * INA231 (Current Shunt and Power Monitor) * Force-Reset-Logic * Over-Current-Indicator * BMG160 (Gyroscope) * BMC150 (Compass) * BNO055 (9-Axis Sensor) * Mic-Detect * FM * ssd2858 Stuff we need the finished CPU PCB to test them: ------------------------------------------------ * DPAD, ABXY * Microphone * WLAN * Bluetooth * Audio (PCM1773 and TWL6040) * Headset * Vibra * (u)SD-Slots We're getting there - full speed ahead! BTW: Beware - I'll start an official keyboard layout thread later tonight... I guess there'll be a hot discussion after that... Want to comment on the post? http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/17879-test-drive/ Follow me on twitter for short news inbetween: https://twitter.com/EvilDragon1717

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Pictures for the weekend
by Michael Mrozek 13 Mar '15

13 Mar '15

Besides some news, you'll get more nice pictures in this Blog entry (well, you need to visit the blog) I hope you'll enjoy both. 1. The PCBs ----------- As mentioned, Nikolaus populated the PCBs. The main PCB and the display PCB are exactly as they'll be in the final unit (except for the currently missing volume wheel) - unless we find some design errors that need to be fixed. So yes, except for the CPU PCB, these are actual prototype PCBs! For the moment, we have a dummy CPU PCB where we can attach the devboard - which means: Everything except the CPU PCB can already be fully tested! You can see them all on the website. 2. Change to the USB/SATA-Combo-Port ------------------------------------ Sadly, the USB/SATA-Combo port is discontinued and not available anymore. Therefore, we decided to change it a bit. The port will be replaced with a USB3 port. Now hold your horses, the OMAP5 only has ONE USB3 port, which is the MicroUSB port. However, with a CPU upgrade, we'll have a USB3 port available. With the OMAP5, it'll act as a normal USB2 Port AND we'll offer an adapter to connect SATA as well to it. So instead of one combo port, you need to use an adaptor if you plan to use SATA, but at the same time we already have a USB3 connector on the PCB for future upgrades. Sounds like a good idea to me :) That's it for now, hopefully back soon with more news. Want to see the pictures and comment to the post? http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/17852-pictures-for-the-weekend/ Follow me on twitter for short news inbetween: https://twitter.com/EvilDragon1717

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Updates in all areas, spiced with case renders
by Michael Mrozek 10 Mar '15

10 Mar '15

Note: There are some nice pictures that go with this post. You should really visit the boards to see them if you're interested :) Things are slowly adding up! Let's start with the biggest news first: 1. The Case design ------------------ The case design is basically finished. The only thing left is to print it, test it (together with the prototype PCBs) and make some final tweaks in case something doesn't fit properly yet. Then it's time to produce the moulds and two months later, we can start producing the case. During that timeframe, we can also choose the colors (together with the community, of course). I will probably publish a Blender file so everyone can work on color designs as well! I've rendered a few pictures for you. Don't worry - weird stairs-like artifacts you can see on the case are due to importing a CAD file into Blender - the Mesh had a too low resolution. In reality, these curves will be perfectly smooth. Now, what changed for the case since the last time I posted? The edges where your palms hold the device have been rounded. This should make playing a lot more comfortable. The lid edges will have the corners changed to be slightly rounded in order to fit there. The shoulder buttons have been slightly tweaked so that the upper button has no dead spots (where you can't press them). Some minor change (just cosmetic): The front has been changed to look a bit more symmetric. I can't wait for the printed case :D Let's move on to the... 2. LCD Cable ------------ Samples of Pyras LCD Cable will be ready in about 15 days (add some more for shipping). As you know, we tweaked it so that will (hopefully) not fail again. BTW: The LCD Cable of the Nintendo 3DS uses the same solution we do: Rounded edges everywhere. As the LCD Cable itself doesn't have any parts on it, it's also a lot cheaper than Pandoras (about 3 USD compared to the current 10 USD). Next up: 3. The PCBs ----------- Nikolaus spent the last week populating the main prototype and display PCBs. These are now finished - the only thing missing is the Wifi module (read below). The layout for the CPU PCB is not yet finished (as Nikolaus didn't manage to clone himself yet), but as we're still waiting for one sample component, we couldn't populate those yet anyways. However, we can fully test the main- and display PCB without the CPU PCB as well. 4. The rotator Chip ------------------- Nikolaus just started to work on it today, but as with every MIPI device, it's a lot of trial, error and browsing through documentation to get the correct sequence. Let's hope he's lucky and will stumble accross the correct sequence within a couple of days. The manufacturer tries to provide as much help as possible as well. I'll keep you posted! 5. Some stuff we need to solve ------------------------------ Well, not everything is nice and wonderful in real life, and that's also the case with designing and producing a new device. The leadtime we got for the Wifi Chip is 30 (!!!) weeks - which is WAY too long. Jorjin (the module manufacturer) could produce them within a couple of weeks, but it seems to take exceptionally long to get the needed chipsets from TI right now. Also, some sample chips we ordered from TI two months ago haven't arrived (that's the part missing for the CPU PCBs). It's not a dealbreaker, as we know we can get these parts, but we surely don't want to wait that long! My contact to TI is on holidays this week, but I'll try to find a solution for that together with him next week. We're also currently looking for different Wifi SIP manufacturers in order to be able to have a solution that doesn't take 30 weeks. I'm sure we can work something out, but it's a bit of annoying work to do. So much for the news today. We're moving along :) In case there's a part of the case you want to take a closer look on, let me know and I'll render it :) Want to see the pictures and comment to the post? http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/17843-updates-in-all-areas-spiced-with-… Follow me on twitter for short news inbetween: https://twitter.com/EvilDragon1717

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Pyra-news March 2015