Project Logs

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• Sourcing Parts in Huaqiangbei

  zakqwy • 01/19/2019 at 00:02 • 4 comments

  Kickstarter: 3 years of tedious planning, a month of frantic promotion, and a lifetime of apologizing for delays. This is hard and I am not very good at it, but we continue to move forward.
  

  I recently posted our fifteenth Kickstarter update since the campaign finished over a year ago. As an aside, you may have noticed a distinct lack of posts on this project page; that's because I really owe our backers the first word, and I often lack the bandwidth to document the project in a few places simultaneously. I have a backlog of interesting technical challenges I will get around to discussing here at some point. Hopefully.

  Jarod and I went to China earlier this year. To be precise, we crossed the International Date Line en route to Hong Kong around 5:00 PM local time on December 31st, so you could argue that we are still in 2018:
  

  In any case, as I detailed in the aforementioned log update, the run went well. Really well! A lot of things came together at the last minute and we're even a bit proud of how some parts turned out (other parts, like the recycled packing material I specified, maybe a bit less so). But one part went distinctly less well, best illustrated by this traumatizing gif:

  See what happened? At some point, I rotated the regulator footprint 90 degrees and repoured the ground planes, meaning the only evidence of the mistake was the now-visible ratnest. Well, that, and the DRC errors I would have gotten if I'd run a DRC as my absolute last step prior to fab file export. It meant we had to scrap all the Touch Sensory Neurons (a bit over 10% of the run), and this poor chap will need to re-solder switches on all the new PCBs once he gets back from Chinese New Year:

  Lesson learned, the hard and expensive way. I even prototyped this board a few months earlier; I need to review my commits, but I believe the issue came up when I changed my SOT23-5 footprint in the library and then reloaded my netlist and replaced footprints. Ugh. DRC EVERY TIME, PEOPLE.

  Moving on. The Chinese New Year comment above came about yesterday, after my manufacturing partner let me know they wouldn't be able to source all the parts prior to the holiday and our run (and thus ship date) would be pushed back to mid-February. Back in China, Jarod and I still hoped to solve the problem fast and get our Kickstarter fulfilled before the break. We pulled an inventory report and realized the run overage wouldn't cover a few components, including the STM32L0, the rear-mount RGB LED, and the snap-action switch. Sunday morning, we hired a car to take us from Dalang, Dongguan to Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen.
  

  China is .. hard to describe. Jarod and I only saw a tiny slice of the massive country, from a tiny perspective, for a tiny amount of time. If you're interested in electronics, try to figure out a way to get to Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen; if you're interested in any other consumer goods, you probably should go somewhere else, as there is likely a massive city built around its supply chain somewhere in the country.
  

  Our driver laughed as I excitedly took pictures of the LED signs showing spot pricing for various electronic components. We learned that in Huaqiangbei, it's pretty normal to see dropped SMT components and bits of tape on the ground, and most blocks feature a few people carrying around stacks of reeled parts.
  

  Pollution is A Thing in China; when I took this picture from the 23rd floor of the Huaqiang Plaza Hotel, the AQI was around 150 and a decent number of folks wore face masks. Some parts of the surrounding area are quite clean (particularly restaurants, hotel rooms, lobbies, and the like), but many hard-to-reach surfaces have a bit of grime on them; it's especially visible on windows and polished metal surfaces. I imagine this is related to airborne particulate pollution. 

  We headed for the Golconda Electronics Market. This building, a 6-story electronics bazaar of sorts, is adjacent to the Plaza Hotel and seemed like...

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• MOAR Project Details Section Updates

  zakqwy • 10/29/2018 at 19:59 • 0 comments

  Time to update the Project Details Section again. Saving the previous version here for posterity. Something something revision control readme.md etc
  

  Thanks for checking out NeuroBytes!

  This Project Details section is current as of 9/25/2017. To see the previous edition, follow this link.

  [Above: 3+ years of NeuroBytes evolution. The new boards have different connectors, different microcontrollers, different graphics, different LEDs, different communication protocols, and ... well, different just-about-everthing. Below: the current NeuroBytes ecosystem as rendered from the original PCB designs, all of which have been prototyped and some of which have been produced in 100+ board quantities. Left to Right: Interneuron, Tonic Neuron, Motor Neuron, Touch Sensory Neuron, Pressure Sensory Neuron, Rod Photoreceptor, Battery Pack. Not shown: Vestibular System, Cochlea, NID, Braitenberg Vehicle chassis, Patellar Reflex model, etc...]

  NeuroBytes® are open-source electronic neuron simulators designed to help students understand basic neuroscience. Each module can be freely connected with others to form complex and biologically representative neural networks. On-board reverse-mounted RGB LEDs indicate current state: excited, inhibited, firing, learning, etc. The boards are based on the STM32L0 ARM Cortex M0+ microcontroller and the libopencm3 hardware library, and communicate via a novel board-to-board networking protocol that allows central data collection and global message broadcasting.

  [img: NeuroTinker co-founders Joe (left) and Zach (right) at San Diego Maker Faire 2015]

  Since its inception in mid-2012 and hardware development starting in February of 2014, this project has gone through many iterations and spawned the formation of NeuroTinker, LLC, a for-profit company primarily funded via Phase I and Phase II SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation. We are currently on track to commercially launch the product via a crowdfunding campaign before the end of 2017, and will have products for sale on the general market in early 2018.

  Open Source Hardware

  NeuroBytes is Open Source Hardware, as defined by OSHWA and standardized under their Certification Program (US000024). Our design files (C code for firmware and KiCAD files for hardware) are released under the terms of GPLv3 as detailed in our license file.

  Resources

  NeuroBytes GitHub Repository. The firmware and hardware files for this project are released under GPLv3 and the latest version will always live in the linked GitHub organization. Individual boards are listed under their respective names (Interneuron, Motor Neuron, etc).

  NeuroTinker company site. This is where we share additional information related to the NeuroBytes product line, such as operating instructions, kit purchase links, and social media account info. We have a public forum on the site that sees occasional use, and a spot to sign up for infrequent email newsletters that make every effort to consolidate important info into one location.

  This project page. Yes, the project page you are currently reading. New project logs will appear somewhat frequently and tend to provide a good up-to-the-minute record of technical challenges and developments; conversely, if you want an exhaustive history of NeuroBytes you can start at the beginning. We've had a few great conversations in the log page comment sections (along with the main comment section), so don't hesitate to provide your input.

  [img: jumbo-sized and functional NeuroBytes v0.91 board built for World Maker Faire 2016.]

• Manufacturing Run Started

  zakqwy • 08/04/2018 at 16:45 • 0 comments

  Above: Over the past few months I started putting production prints and assembly instructions on my wall as a way of keeping track of progress. It got a bit out of hand but was quite satisfying to see.

  Last week, after many months of back-and-forth with our NeuroBytes manufacturing partner, I issued the production purchase order and wired a bundle of cash to kick off our first real run. We are making 4,285 STM32L0-powered NeuroBytes boards, along with 475 Battery Packs and 130 Network Interface Devices. The factory is also building 6,600 cable assemblies and sourcing servos, laser cut wood parts, packaging trays, manuals, and much more to produce 525 complete NeuroBytes kits. I am excited that this number represents five times our Kickstarter commitment, meaning we will have plenty of kits left to fulfill other pre-orders we have received since the close of our campaign and put a bunch of kits into inventory. There is still much that could go wrong, but NeuroBytes are much closer to becoming a Thing You Can Buy (If You Want).
  

• it's okay to be paranoid about single-source components

  zakqwy • 05/04/2018 at 17:56 • 0 comments

  @Davor recently posted a request for an alternative to the SunLED reverse-mount RGB LED we used on nearly all NeuroBytes boards. @Jarod White actually had the same thought when he first joined the company, and I created a 6mm x 6mm castellated daughterboard that allows one to reverse-mount a common-anode 0606 RGB LED (I used the LTST-C19HE1WT from Lite-On) in place of the specified device. I had to dig this one out of the archive; I only tested it on an old-logo-design ARM prototype:

  The boards look a bit different but the LED effect is the same. And I included a sweet concentric circle silkscreen pattern on the back for good measure. I think I did forget a polarity alignment mark though.
  
  Design files for the daughterboard (KiCad and Gerbers) are in the Files section. Uploading the design kicks back an error on OSHpark as the boards are just below 0.25" x 0.25", but it's simple enough to pattern the design in KiCad so several are fabricated at once. And now that the SunLED devices appear to be out of stock (at least on Digi-Key), this design may become ever more relevant.
  

• Inter-neuron comms, the Network Interface Device...

  zakqwy • 03/22/2018 at 22:59 • 0 comments

  ... and other cool stuff @Jarod White came up with but hasn't had time to talk about. Sorry to jump the gun, friend, but feel free to comment if you have anything to add.
  

  Revisiting the Oscilloscope

  Sometime in early 2016, I created the NeuroBytes Oscilloscope, a prototype device that allowed one to view the real-time membrane potential of a connected NeuroBytes board:

  I built two Oscilloscopes, one for me (below) and one for @NeuroJoe (above). The devices, based around the #Teensy 3.0 & 3.1 & 3.2 & 3.5 & 3.6 with a portrait-style 320x240 LCD, worked with ATtiny88-based NeuroBytes v0.8. The boards ran modified firmware that bitbanged UART data via one of the dendrite connections. Note the baud rate indication on the LCD in the image above; the bit-banging wasn't carefully clocked, so I tweaked the Teensy's UART speed to get good data (in this case, at 765 baud).
  

  We didn't anticipate the reception we would get showing these devices to potential customers. At Maker Faires, on college campuses, and in high school classrooms, the consensus came in that this was our missing piece. Viewing real-time membrane potential allowed the user to fully grasp the meaning of the LED color on each NeuroBytes board. Students immediately grasped concepts like temporal and spacial summation, dendritic weighting, action potential thresholds... the list went on. The Oscilloscope had the makings of the NeuroBytes 'killer app'.
  

  Platform Change

  After NeuroBytes v0.91 (the green boards), we decided to change microcontroller platforms from the ATtiny88 to the STM32L0. Part of this was performance-driven; our decay algorithm at the time made use of 16-bit variables on an 8-bit micro, something that could cause issues with our use of pin-change interrupts if we weren't careful. And the ATtiny88 lacked three independent timer outputs, meaning the RGB LED had to be PWM'd manually. This led to all sorts of code optimization tangents that never really eliminated LED flicker and significantly limited algorithm complexity.
  

  [above, swinging a long-exposure camera at NeuroBytes v0.4 (left) and v0.8 (right). Flicker got better, but 160 Hz still ain't good enough for an RGB LED running at 10% brightness.]
  

  Mostly, the decision to switch microcontroller platforms was driven by cost. Say what you will about the Microchip acquisition of Atmel; all I know is that around that time, ATtiny88 prices doubled and suddenly the 32-bit L0 was the budget option. Goodbye avrdude, hello st-link and libopencm3.

  When I designed the first NeuroBytes boards based around this new processor, I wanted to build in oscilloscope functionality from the start. I also wanted to ditch pogo connections for programming so end users could more easily reflash boards. And we wanted a dedicated and unique (i.e. not 4-pin) power connection for each board -- students were getting confused by the notion of plugging a battery pack into an axon or a dendrite ("but I thought neurons were unidirectional, why does the power connection not matter... ?"). In any case, I added on a 7-pin JST GH connector for power, programming, and a dedicated SPI port for the 'scope:
  

  We eventually ran into issues with the 7-pin JST GH connector; the plastic webbing on the top of the connector spanned far enough that it was easy to damage. The clear answer was to ditch the SPI NSS and MOSI lines and move to a 5-pin connector.
  

  Jarod has an idea

  The new oscilloscope concept, as I planned it at least (with 4 channels), would have worked something like this:

  Black wires are 'scope data, red cables are NeuroBytes impulses. Problem: cables are expensive and tend to get out of control when you have a lot of them in a small space. Jarod thought we could do it like this:
  The NeuroBytes would send data along the same cables as they originally sent simple pulses...

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• Happy New Year, KS goal achieved, and we failed EMC testing.

  zakqwy • 01/15/2018 at 21:30 • 1 comment

  Yaay 2018!

  First some good news: we made our Kickstarter goal by a comfortable margin ($34k of a $25k target). Thank you to all of our supporters, especially those whom found us via the timely Hackaday blog post. We aren't immediately cutting a PO to manufacture the products (for reasons I cover below), but our plan is to do a ~$50k manufacturing run -- in other words, if you missed the KS campaign we'll have tons of inventory left to sell. And we're fortunate that we don't need Kickstarter money to pay our salaries or cover the costs of testing. We are lucky -- most don't have that luxury.
  

  Earlier this month, Jarod and I spent the day at a local compliance testing facility. Our products -- the NID, the battery pack, and all the NeuroBytes boards -- don't have any intentional RF sources on board, so the radiated emissions testing under FCC 15.109(g):2018 and ICES-003:2016 is called 'unintentional radiator' testing. Before I discuss results, a few pictures from the 10m anechoic chamber:

  above, the 10m anechoic chamber entrance. Of note: the inner door handle is plastic. You can also see the low-frequency antenna mounted on its automated rising boom. This test is a farfield measurement, so the antenna is 10m from the target and measurements are taken with horizontal and vertical polarities from a variety of heights.
  

  
  

  above, a close-up of the low-frequency antenna. Note the bizarre conductive foam anechoic panels (they are probably 600mm square and extend back into the wall 1m), and the expensive fiber-optic lights.
  
  
  

  above, obligatory high-frequency antenna selfie. We didn't use this one since our equipment didn't have any active radiators (so we swept up to 1 GHz).
  

  
  

  
  

  above, Jarod stands by the high frequency antenna. The table on the round floor piece holds the NeuroBytes network (barely visible) and rotates continuously during testing. We stashed the NID's tablet in the floor so it (hopefully) wouldn't interfere with results.
  

  
  

  
  

  above, our chosen NeuroBytes network configuration for compliance testing. After consulting with the lab and a number of other sources we determined that a representative network with a 'typical' amount of traffic would suffice; testing boards individually would be cost prohibitive and, more importantly, not representative of how NeuroBytes are actually used.
  

  
  

  
  

  above, part of the analysis setup at the lab -- several shielded cameras recording the DUT (Device Under Test) along with a screen from their insanely fancy Agilent spectrum analyzer (whose model number I forgot to jot down). 
  

  ---

  Yeah, it was a neat experience, and the tech who worked with us for the 2-hour radiated emissions test was helpful and well-informed. Then we failed the test! Results:

  Above, a full NeuroBytes network test with the NID attached and the tablet graphing real-time data. This graph shows raw cumulative test data and we didn't actually fail in all the spots shown; after running through the quasi-peak detector we found that the first big hump (~30 MHz - 40 MHz) is the one we need to worry about.
  
  
  We got the result above after a ~10 minute test, so we had plenty of time to try various experiments to narrow down the problem. I was concerned with rise time on the inter-neuron communication lines causing EMI spikes; our tech thought the USB cable may have been the issue. We didn't have any better-shielded or ferrite-equipped cables with us, so he tried snapping a giant 'suitcase ferrite' onto the USB cable:
  
  Above, maybe we're on the right track going after the USB cable? The 32 MHz peak is down quite a bit, but the 39 MHz peak jumped a few dBuV/m...
  
  
  Not shown here, we also tried pulling both the continuous rotation servo and the micro-servo off the network; even though they're tiny I thought we might be seeing some commutation noise. No change.
  
  Next, we ditched the tablet and USB cable entirely. Unfortunately this meant we didn't have data running between the NID and the first NeuroBytes board, but we wanted to be sure the...

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• Kickstarter is live!

  zakqwy • 11/16/2017 at 20:27 • 0 comments

  kck.st/2yISU9l

  Yes, the day is here. We've worked on this project for damn near 5 years (well, 3 years that are documented here, at least) and it's finally time to see if anyone actually wants to buy NeuroBytes. If you have kept up with my logs, hopefully you're confident in our ability to deliver products in a timely manner; we've sorted through the manufacturing side of things and when push comes to shove, our products really aren't all that complicated. I should also be clear about our goals: we want to get our products into the hands of real paying customers that will get angry and break things, and plow as much profit as possible into building inventory so we can make a big splash at NSTA's national meeting next year.
  

  I guess I don't really expect a lot of Hackaday.io readers to be interested in actually backing our campaign -- I didn't start publishing logs here with that intent! In fact, if you're interested in NeuroBytes, I hope you head to our Github repo ( https://www.github.com/neurotinker ), grab our KiCad files, and spin up your own boards. Really, the QFNs are easy to solder by hand since they don't have ground pads.

  However, if you have parents, relatives, students, or anyone else that you think might be interested in learning more about neuroscience in a hands-on way, I do ask that you pass our campaign on to them. Joe and I are new to this crowdfunding thing (and PR/marketing in general), so any help is appreciated!

  [up next: less of this commercial spam and more interesting technical posts about things like our new Network Interface Device board, I promise]

• Getting ready to lunch. Er, launch! Launch. On Kickstarter.

  zakqwy • 10/29/2017 at 17:17 • 0 comments

  [above, our NeuroBuggy Kit. Designed for building Braitenberg Vehicles and playing around with simple neural network-controlled robotics.]
  
  Yes, the day is finally near at hand -- we're going to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the coming weeks to fund our first major production run. Joe and I (and Jarod, and Jill, and Andrew, and Pat, and Mel, and Cecilia, and a great many other people) have been working on this project for a number of years and it's time to push the concept into the real world.
  
  We're starting with five kits; the NeuroBuggy Kit shown above, along with three physiology kits (the Knee Jerk Reflex Kit, the Eye Kit, and the Skin Kit), and one Advanced Kit that includes a whole bucket of NeuroBytes. We are also offering a few other reward options -- a sticker, a 'random board only', a standalone Network Interface Device, and two classroom-scale sets with curricula.
  
  Expect at least one more log update pushing our KS campaign, but I'll also get back to the technical side soon enough. Jarod is getting close to a working NID prototype (I just ordered boards!), and its functionality is probably what has excited and driven us most in the past year.
  
  So. If you are interested in following our KS launch, I suggest heading to the NeuroTinker website -- neurotinker.com -- and signing up for email updates on our page so you know when the campaign goes live. We're tentatively planning for 11/7, but... there are still many things to be done...
  

• Another documentation update . . .

  zakqwy • 09/25/2017 at 21:05 • 0 comments

  Time for another Project Details update. I guess these happen annually now? In any case, the previous text is below... this log mostly exists to preserve the 10/10/2016 copy:
  

  Thanks for checking out NeuroBytes!

  This Project Details section is current as of 10/10/2016. To see the previous edition, follow this link.

  [img: NeuroBytes v0.91 boards getting programmed and tested, October 2016]

  NeuroBytes® [we did register the name and the NeuroTinker logo, as discussed here] are open-source electronic neuron simulators designed to help students understand basic neuroscience. Each modular board includes five inputs (or dendrites) along with two outputs (its axon terminal) that allow easy connection with other identical boards. A rear-mounted RGB LED allows learners to quickly visualize various characteristics of each neuron, including membrane potential, operating mode, and firing rate. Additionally, analog sensors can be used for advanced biological modeling using our littleBits interface adapter and suitable analog input Bits (such as the light/dark sensor). Outputs can be connected to "muscles": 9g hobby servos driven through a NeuroBytes board switched to Motor Neuron mode.

  [img: NeuroTinker co-founders Joe (left) and Zach (right) at San Diego Maker Faire 2015]

  Since its inception in mid-2012 and hardware development starting in February of 2014, this project has gone through ten iterations and spawned the formation of NeuroTinker, LLC, a for-profit company primarily funded via a Phase I SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation. As of October 2016, we have submitted a Phase II application under the same prompt, joined an edtech-focused accelerator called EDSi, run a MN-based manufacturing trial that resulted in prototype sales into both secondary and post-secondary education markets, and generally spent a great deal of time preparing the products and accessories for commercial sale.

  Open Source Hardware

  NeuroBytes is Open Source Hardware, as defined by OSHWA and standardized under their Certification Program (US000024). Our design files (C code for firmware and KiCAD files for hardware) are released under the terms of GPLv3 as detailed in our license file.

  Resources

  NeuroBytes GitHub Repository. The firmware and hardware files for this project are released under GPLv3 and the latest version will always live in the linked GitHub repo.

  NeuroTinker company site. This is where we share additional information related to the NeuroBytes product line, such as operating instructions, kit purchase links, and social media account info. We have a public forum on the site that sees occasional use, and a spot to sign up for infrequent email newsletters that make every effort to consolidate important info into one location.

  This project page. Yes, the project page you are currently reading. New project logs will appear somewhat frequently and tend to provide a good up-to-the-minute record of technical challenges and developments; conversely, if you want an exhaustive history of NeuroBytes you can start at the beginning. We've had a few great conversations in the log page comment sections (along with the main comment section), so don't hesitate to provide your input.

  [img: jumbo-sized and functional NeuroBytes board built for World Maker Faire 2016.]

• Product Update!

  zakqwy • 09/19/2017 at 22:38 • 0 comments

  A few months ago, I mentioned that we were preparing to embark on a prototyping sprint. While prototyping will forever be a continuous and fluid process, at this point the fast-setting cement that is hardware development has solidified enough to share in a more formal manner than overly stylized Instagram posts:

  In two(ish) months we are launching a crowdfunding campaign (I know... 'ugh'. Agreed. I promise to keep my project log spam to a minimum) with the following nearly finalized boards:

  Interneuron

  The Interneuron board operates as an integrate-and-fire neuron simulator, similar to the previous (v0.4, v0.8, v0.91, etc) NeuroBytes boards. Beyond the ARM upgrade (STM32L0 + libopencm3), these boards have a more balanced dendrite-to-axon ratio (4:3) which helps a great deal when building complex circuits. The graphics have changed quite a bit as well -- we're moving away from our previous logo-based design to something a bit more physiologically accurate, so the dendritic tree is quite a bit more spindly on this board. The learning mode features continue to grow more sophisticated; our latest iteration features potentiation and depression, both of which are triggered by switching modes with the on-board switch. And most importantly, these boards (along with the others in this post) no longer send simple voltage spikes to indicate a firing event; instead, they communicate via JarodNet, a novel protocol developed by @Jarod White that really deserves a post of its own.

  Touch Sensory Neuron

  The Touch Sensory Neuron (previously Touch Sensor, previously^2 a tiny snap-action switch that attached to standard NeuroBytes) is pretty simple -- it fires immediately whenever the switch is pressed. From a pure cost perspective this board could be simplified a bit (or integrated with the Interneuron), but separating mechanoreceptors from interneurons is critical from a biology education point of view. The board graphics also show a few new concepts that can be taught in the classroom -- myelination (although this board doesn't operate any faster than others) and unipolar neuron physiology.
  

  Motor Neuron

  The Motor Neuron is currently the only output device (beyond on-board LEDs) in our ecosystem. Initially designed for our patellar reflex demonstration, the Motor Neuron is now also used to drive continuous rotation servos for building Braitenberg Vehicles (again, this deserves its own post). These boards have three equally-weighted dendrites and on-board connections for two servos, so we no longer need fussy and easy-to-lose JST-to-servo adapters. The ID switch is used to change between CR and STD servo mode.

  Rod Photoreceptor

  The Rod Photoreceptor emulates its biological analogue by causing downstream NeuroBytes boards to fire at a rate inversely proportional to the light intensity at the sensor. In the interest of building more nifty circuits, we also provided a not-quite-biologically-accurate 'light output' that is directly proportional to light intensity. The boards use a Broadcom ambient light sensor, which is super slick because it integrates a photocell with a logarithmic-response amplifier circuit -- that means it responds to light like the human eye, and has the effect of giving us a few extra bits on the STM32L0's ADC. Crucially, the boards also have easy-to-use zero and span buttons so they can be quickly calibrated to ambient classroom conditions. And the top and bottom curves on the boards match up, so they can be stacked with the sensors quite close to each other:

  Pressure Sensory Neuron

  The Pressure Sensory Neuron is another type of mechanoreceptor that fires action potentials at a rate proportionate to the pressure applied to the on-board force sensitive resistor. This is a great board for testing networks quickly, and it has quite a bit of range-ability -- the FSR combined with the STM32L0's 12-bit ADC mean a light touch and a hard press both produce noticeable changes. In the future we'll probably integrate some kind of...

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