The FemtoTX Motherboard Standard

Details

7-12-2024

Brainstorming Draft Specs to develop "FemtoTX" and "AttoTX" form factor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Form_Factor_Special_Interest_Group

"FemtoTX" (fTX) could be used for tablets and laptops, whereas "AttoTX" aTX) could be for cell phones, and at least small enough to be in a keycard or usb drive. Though there could be an overlap so that attoTX can also fit on a femtoTX mounting holes (similar to mini-ITX fitting on 4 of 9 Micro holes.

micro	μ	10⁻⁶	0.000001	1873
nano	n	10⁻⁹	0.000000001	1960
pico	p	10⁻¹²	0.000000000001	1960
femto	f	10⁻¹⁵	0.000000000000001	1964
atto	a	10⁻¹⁸	0.000000000000000001	1964

from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix#List_of_SI_prefixes (chosen for easy reference/continuity, rather than arbitrarily small form factor concept)

"The Mobile-ITX form factor was announced by VIA Technologies at Computex in June, 2007. The motherboard size of first prototypes was 75 × 45 mm (3.0 × 1.8 in).^[2] The design was intended for ultra-mobile computing such as a smartphone or UMPC."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile-ITX

Embedded	EPIC (Express) (165×115) ESM (149×71) Nano-ITX (120×120) COM Express (125×95) ESMexpress (125×95) ETX (114×95) XTX (114×95) NUC (102×102) Pico-ITX (100×72) PC/104 (-Plus) (96×90) ESMini (95×55) SMARC (82×80) Qseven (70×70) mobile-ITX (60×60) CoreExpress (58×65)

60mm is 2.3622" and that might be too large for a mobile phone at least for a square dimension. 40x40mm = 1.57x1.57" and might be simpler for a smaller form factor, but perhaps too small for femtoTX and too large for attoTX.

The Sparkfun Nano, for example (see pictures) is 49mmx21mmx7mm (1.92"x0.82"x0.27"):

https://www.distrelec.biz/en/redboard-artemis-nano-development-board-76v-sparkfun-electronics-dev-15443/p/30160886 Narrow and thin enough to fit in a phone and long enough for additional headers. A boxier one would not as flexible with most cell phones (as 1.9 wide would leave little space for the side of the cell phone. Two mounting holes could be used, however, and doubling the width to 50x50mm or 49x49mm might be ideal for femtoTX, which could have the same distance between mounting holes for all 4.

By comparison, the Raspberry Pi 3-4 is around 85x56x17mm (l x w x h): https://www.waveshare.com/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-8gb-ram.htm

ZERO	ZEROW/ WH	3A+	3B	3B+	4B
SOC	BCM2835		BCM2837B0			BCM2711B0
CPU	ARM11 Single-core 700MHz		ARM Cortex-A53 Quad-core (3B 1.2GHz, 3A+/3B+ 1.4GHz)			ARM Cortex-A72 Quad-core 1.5GHz
GPU	Broadcom VideoCore IV@400MHz					Broadcom VideoCore IV@500MHz
RAM	512MB		512MB	1GB		Choice of 2GB/4GB/8GB
USB	1x micro USB		1x USB2.0	4x USB2.0		2x USB2.0 + 2x USB3.0
HDMI	Micro HDMI		HDMI			Mini HDMI
Bluetooth	N/A	Bluetooth 4.1	Bluetooth 4.2	Bluetooth 4.1	Bluetooth 4.2	Bluetooth 5.0
WiFi	N/A	802.11 b/g/n	3B: 802.11 b/g/n, others: 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2.4GHz/5GHz dual band
Ethernet	N/A		100Mbps		300Mbps (USB)	1000Mbps
PoE	N/A				Yes
Power Input	Micro USB (5V 2.5A)					USB Type-C (5V 3A)
Dimensions	65 × 30 x 5 mm		65 × 56 mm	85 x 56 x 17 mm

The PicoITX (, a common embedded format, is slightly larger than the newer Raspberry Pis, but not by much:

Pico-ITX (100×72)

ROCK Pi E: 56 x 65 mm, or 2.5 x 2.2 in

(2020) Radxa’s latest single-board computer is a tiny system that measures just 65mm x 56mm (2.6″ x 2.2″). It’s called the Rock Pi E and it features a Rockchip RK3328, support for up to 2GB of RAM, and an eMMC socket and microSD card reader that you can use for storage." https://liliputing.com/the-24-rock-pi-e-is-a-tiny-quad-core-computer-for-headless-applications/

https://wiki.radxa.com/RockpiS:

"The measurement is 1.7 x 1.7 inches (38.1 x 38.1 mm)."

https://www.electronics-lab.com/an-overview-of-rock-pi-s-v1-3/

Having used a RockPi S, it seems acceptably small without being too wide. Whether...

Files

Pentium to Apple M2 Max 1993-2023 Solar Sail.png

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - 4.84 MB - 10/24/2024 at 19:06

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Pentium to Apple M2 Max 1993-2023.PNG

https://github.com/hatonthecat/Solar-Kernel#640000-transistors-ought-to-be-enough-for-anyone

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - 10.06 MB - 10/07/2024 at 01:34

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Einstein's Concept of the Photon.PNG

https://www.fresnel.fr/perso/stout/Quant_Opt/Einstein_AJP_1905_photon_english.pdf https://e-peas.com/product/aem10920-high-efficiency-photovoltaic-source-pmic-for-rcu-and-kbd-applications/

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - 186.14 kB - 10/05/2024 at 19:06

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Market Research 2024.pdf

Charts included (see previous attachment for corrected margins) https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/computer-motherboard-market-report

Adobe Portable Document Format - 7.10 MB - 09/14/2024 at 03:00

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The Global Computer Motherboard market size was USD 18.5 billion in 2023!.pdf

https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/computer-motherboard-market-report

Adobe Portable Document Format - 1.62 MB - 09/14/2024 at 02:52

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Project Logs

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Thought Experiment
Giovanni • 09/21/2024 at 19:34 • 0 comments

https://github.com/hatonthecat/Solar-Kernel?tab=readme-ov-file#copenhagen

The theory, analogy, and metaphor is- solar powered computers are possible, but most have just not realized there was a calculation to be made. (From Copenhagen, 2002, BBC4)

https://youtu.be/RTn9eKfH11M?t=5719 (skip to 1:35:05)
Lithium Ion Hybrid Capacitor Circuit & LED Test
Giovanni • 08/28/2024 at 14:51 • 0 comments

I successfully tested the Ymin 10mAh, 20 Farad lithium capacitor- it runs continuously and it hasn't been recharged since I received it. Next step is testing a variable resistor, a potentiometer which is pictured in the 1st and 3rd videos to toggle the dimness. I also tested positively a 12V car W5W "dome" LED light that I bought from eBay in 2017 - a 10 pack for $0.99- unsure what kind of voltage it uses (when connected to this breadboard), but similar ones use around 0.2Watts. Green LEDS (not the tinted aspect) use the least power, though using green for everything isn't always preferred.
Testing a 20F, 10mAh Lithium Ion Hybrid Capacitor
Giovanni • 08/26/2024 at 04:06 • 0 comments
Being so risk-averse when it comes to testing circuits, electricity is easier written about than tested. That said, I try to make time for actually devising miniscule experiments that test at least one or two things. I am also a very slow learner- I tend to accumulate a ton of idle knowledge and rarely organize the information towards something I actually can see a use for testing (and towards developing a more complex test or build!). The terms "move fast and break things" and "fail fast" doesn't interest me, or at least when it comes to testing circuits, as opposed to carpentry or metalworking (which I never do). Not only that, but "move fast and break things" is counterproductive for circuits at best and dangerous at worst. For this video, I was only able to test one thing- voltage. Granted, I also had an unused multimeter that I only tested once in 2021, and had been wanting to get some use out of it. Not to mention the breadboard and solar power managers that I have laying around in a box. But one step at a time- While the breadboard is pictured, it is not tested in this video. That will come next, once I figure out how to wire the minimum circuit necessary to light the red LED.

A positive result was that the voltage test resulted in a reading of 3.60V, of which the LIC is rated 3.8V. Not sure if that is less than par, or it is just less than 100% charged. Or something like that. The margin of error is somewhere between 0.5-1%, not enough to result in an incorrect reading of 5% margin error:

|Automatic ranging TRMS 6000 count

AC voltage: 6V/60V/600V (±1.2% + 5d), 750V (±1.5% + 5d)

DC voltage 600mV/6V/60V/600V(±0.5% + 5d), 1000V (±1.0% + 5d)

AC current 6mA/60mA (±1.0% + 10d), 600mA (±1.5% + 10d), 20A (±2.5% + 10d)

DC current 60μA/6mA/60mA (±0.8% + 10d), 600mA (±1.2% + 10d), 20A (±2.0% + 10d)

Capacitance: 6nF/60nF/600nF/6μF/60μF/600μF (±3.0% + 5d), 6mF/100mF (±5.0% + 10d)

Resistance: 600Ω(±0.8% + 10d), 6kΩ/60kΩ/600kΩ/6MΩ(±0.8% + 3d), 600MΩ(±1.2% + 10d)

Frequency: 100Hz/1000Hz/10kHz/ 100kHz/1MHz/10MHz (±1.0% + 3d)

Duty ratio: 1%~99% ± (1.0% +2d)

Temperature: -20℃-100℃ -4℉- 1832℉ (± 1.0% + 3)

Diode test, Continuity test, Good Sensitivity of NCV sensor

Full range overloaded protection, Data hold, Live test

Auto Shutdown: 15 minutes

Backlight and flashlight|

https://www.lcsc.com/product-detail/Lithium-Ion-Capacitors_Ymin-SLA3R8L2060813_C970391.html

Multimeter User UA19B guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uLc5ZH09o1W1XA3oQ490vOcm_m7ylSJ0/view

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BRG4XN2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are some great tutorials on breadboards:

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-breadboard/anatomy-of-a-breadboard#:~:text=Terminal%20Strips&text=You%20can%20see%20lots%20of,hide%20under%20the%20plastic%20holes

If I haven't posted a project log in a while, it's probably because I'd like to have something more substantial to showcase in a video than a single test. But I'm ok with that too.

Note: the 9V multimeter battery is being replaced very soon! It will be interesting to discover whether the low battery level was causing a 5-6% measurement error rate, which would suggest it is actually 3.8V...

----

An English version of the data sheet can be viewed here:

https://en.sekorm.com/doc/2768518.html

"The SLA3R8L2060813 from Shanghai Yongming Electronic is a Supercapacitor with Capacitance 20000 mF, Voltage Rating 3.8 V, Equivalent Series Resistance 500 mOhms, Temperature Operating Range -40 to 85 Degree C. Tags: Through Hole. More details for SLA3R8L2060813 can be seen below.

Product Specifications

Product Details
- Part Number SLA3R8L2060813
- Manufacturer Shanghai Yongming Electronic
- Description 20000 mF,...
Read more »
Steve Jobs' 1984 Macintosh, & Why Designing a Solar Powered Laptop integrates New Tech the same way.
Giovanni • 10/02/2023 at 19:54 • 0 comments
Review of project status (and some history of telecommunications)
Giovanni • 10/01/2023 at 02:48 • 0 comments
Adapted Pi-Top for solar panel by replacing display cable outlet for DC cable
Giovanni • 03/20/2021 at 13:17 • 0 comments

Was able to fit a 5" screen in Pi-Top v3, thus considering use as a cyberdeck instead of main panel.
Solar powering Ambiq Micro Apollo3
Giovanni • 03/17/2021 at 16:14 • 0 comments
Powering the 5mW Artemis Nano fully on a 10.5 Phillips LED
Giovanni • 03/09/2021 at 05:04 • 0 comments

Got my Artemis Nano to power on completely with a 10.5W LED, far less than the 45W Cowboy Studio CFL I was using with the 2V, 160mAh panel in my previous log . Since the bluetooth LED is is blinking, it must be using around 5mW, which is probably not very efficient, although it is the only way I can connect [using an Adafruit Universal USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger w/ TI BQ24074) the 5W panel to the USB-C input of the Artemis Nano at the moment. Some efficiency loss is likely, since it travels through the 500mA boost converter.

Later I put the lampshade back on the Philips and was able to get a red LEDd, but it took a while for current to flow through the entire circuit. With some efficiency improvements (i.e soldering the 500mV boost and panel placement), it is very likely that the Artemis Nano can be powered in a more ambient condition (i.e not a bulb directly on the panel as in the above photo.)

I’ll also try my Powerfilm Dev-in-Basic w/ BQ25570 development kit sometime.
85W Cowboy Studio CFL & Artemis Nano comparison to 3.7V battery
Giovanni • 03/05/2021 at 22:51 • 0 comments
Sparkfun Artemis Nano LED powered by ordinary lightbulb
Giovanni • 03/05/2021 at 20:35 • 0 comments

Sparkfun Artemis Nano https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15443

Powered by DFRobot Solar Power Manager Micro

https://www.dfrobot.com/product-1781....
Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Panel 2V 160mA 50*50mm

& 800 Lumen Philips 10.5W bulb 2700K.

The next step is to get the blue light that flashes when it boots with a standard 3.7V battery & recharge the battery at the same rate it discharges. A larger solar panel will easily work, but I had to unplug it because the Nano immediately started smoking, not realizing I was using the wrong 4.4V out with an Adafruit Solar Lipo Charger. Really important tip: Make sure you have the right regulated output or it will fry the MCU

I attended a webinar by E-peas, Epishine & Cap-XX, and found this slide helpful

View all 13 project logs

Build Instructions

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Step 1

These are not build instructions but build concepts.

Goal #1: Power a Sparkfun Artemis board on 4 Powerfilm LL200-2.4-75or 3-37 (x2 or x4):

by using:

1. Sparkfun Artemis board https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15443

and

https://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/development-kits/solar-development-kit (DEV-BASIC)

uses BQ25570 and includes (2) LL200-3-37 Indoor Solar Panel with 6” leads

or https://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/development-kits/aem-pf-evk-solar-development-kit-with-e-peas-pmic

uses AEM10941 harvester:

AEM-PF-EVK Dev Kit PCBA (and includes (2) LL200-2.4-37 Indoor Solar Panel with leads)
a battery can be used in place of the supercapacitor. This image was used to demonstrate the panels can be wired in parallel. Earlier in the video they use a 40mah battery, which could be used here, or a larger one (100mah), for example.

Additional panels can be purchases separately from Digikey & Mouser. Other BQ25570 chargers include Mikroe-2814:

https://www.arrow.com/en/products/mikroe-2814/mikroelektronika?gclid=Cj0KCQiAmfmABhCHARIsACwPRADBziDNW74RhE4C6A4Bf8bEsCRlMSrswfLfvO-a-cDouq-HHLcOQ2MaAhDSEALw_wcB

and off-brand BQ25570: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184366178954

A Tindie seller for AES10941 https://www.tindie.com/products/jaspersikken/solar-harvesting-into-li-ion-battery/

Demo:

By accomplishing this goal, it can be demonstrated that not just a bluetooth sensor, but a microcontroller capable of running GUI-based applications on a number of solar panels inside continuously, without relying on sleep programming. The goal of this is to be a computer that one can access and see a stream of emails incoming, and not it have to shut off for long boot up times.

Jasper Sikken, who sells an AEM10941 harvester on Tindie, has said on his project page (Thank you!): https://hackaday.io/project/159139-tiny-solar-energy-module-tsem :

"Jasper Sikken wrote 4 hours ago

You seem to understand my calculations to estimate the amount of daily harvested energy. The AEM10941 input voltage range is max 5V. You need to make sure that the open circuit voltage does not exceed 5V. That often means you need to select 4V or less NOMINAL voltage. Either you put 1 or more 4V solar panels in parallel or put a few lower voltage cells in series. Note that a partial shade on a series string causes the whole string to malfunction. Also note that AEM10941 efficiency drops with solar panel voltage below 1V. So a tradeoff is to select about 2.0V nominal voltage and if you want more power you add more in parallel"

Additional Powerfilm Dev-Kit Review:

Step 2. Add a display

Power an e-ink or reflective display and the Artemis board connected to the Artemis board's SPI pins using 4-6 panels.

Discussions

e64 wrote 07/01/2024 at 18:55

please add more ram 512K is ok for start.

and meybe a meshtastic.org / reticulum.network Lora network for emergency communications

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Giovanni wrote 07/01/2024 at 20:55

https://www.top-electronics.com/en/apollo3-blue-plus-soc-96-mhz-768kb-bga

https://www.top-electronics.com/en/apollo4-blue-plus-192-mhz-2-75mb-bga

https://www.top-electronics.com/en/apollo510-soc-250mhz-3-75mb-wlcsp

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The FemtoTX Motherboard Standard

Description

Details

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