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The ProtoBoost V1

Hiemal

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So...

I may or may not have a driver currently in the works.

It is my understanding that there is a severe lack of readily available drivers on the market right now, and as such I'm attempting to step up to the plate to, hopefully, fill that void.

Now. The ProtoBoost.

This is not going to be a small driver; small means hard to heatsink, and with the potential current capabilities of this sucker, you definitely want it to be easy to heatsink.

It's clockin' in currently at 11.78 mm by 22.30 mm. A little larger than most drivers, but hey, here's the best part;

All of the parts that need heatsinking, are all on one side. Makes it EXTREMELY easy to remove heat from this thing.

And the MOSFET? Utilizes a new package that has an exposed metal part on the top of it. The mosfet also has ridiculously low RDSon, we're talking bout 5 milliohms for the voltage that it'd be driven with.

The diode? Uses an extremely efficient schottky with a voltage drop of 0.39 volts at 3 amps. At 5 amps, even lower.

It'll also use a potentiometer, but this is OPTIONAL. The board has a spot for a resistor as well, if potentiometers aren't your thing.

I'm also using 2 oz copper boards, with much thinner substrate (0.8 mm vs 1.6 mm like boards of old) thanks to OSHpark.

I'm attempting to make 5 amps the target current output for this driver. It SHOULD be capable of more, but I do not have the boards in hand currently. It'll also be able to run off of two AA batteries as well, though with diminished current capability.

I'm expecting to get the boards back in a few weeks. I'll keep this thread updated with necessary information and pictures as they come.



I really hope you guys are excited for this!! Lord knows I am. :yh:




Here's some EAGLE pictures for you all to enjoy. <3

NbQJYYC.png


vR5SI6p.png
 
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Hi ,
yes we do need more driver options , being that Lazeerer is only showing a few now compared to a while back in sizes and configurations. Well best of luck we will be looking forward to outcome .

Rich:)
 
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Can't wait buddy awesome, I had one of your 5.5a super boost drivers and it worked perfectly until I transplanted it and accidentally ripped the inductor and another part off with my heatsink,

I think Vladimir is also working on a boost driver the more the merrier.

At least we won't have to use 2 Flexdrives to get 2.8a!
 

Hiemal

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Just an update, i got the boards in yesterday and ordered the parts to build them fully today.

Will let you all know how it goes.
 
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Hi,
Can't wait to see this transpired into a great driver, thesis truly awesome news. Please keep us posted..

Rich:)
 
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Awesome sauce, Hiemal! Looking forward to some new drivers being available!

It's probably not a common request, but will it support TTL/PWM? If so, what do you think will be the max frequency?
 

Hiemal

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Awesome sauce, Hiemal! Looking forward to some new drivers being available!

It's probably not a common request, but will it support TTL/PWM? If so, what do you think will be the max frequency?

There is a shutdown pin on the main IC, but I don't believe it's intended for PWM or TTL, unfortunately.

Maybe sometime down the line I'll put together a driver with that capability, but this all depends on how popular this particular driver is in the first place.
 

Hiemal

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So, got everything today finally, and the boards didn't work as planned.

I'm guessing it's likely because the IC I was using wasn't a "standard" chip so to speak, since it uses a gated oscillator, instead of the standard current feedback based topology.

Ah, well, I redesigned it slightly, using a more standardized IC. It costs a bit more but I've used the other chip before with success, so the new boards should definitely work.

Will update as needed.
 

Hiemal

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This is still happening, just doing more rounds of testing, I apologize for the ridiculous delays on this.
 

94Z28

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Sounds good Hiemal let me know if I can help in any way and I'm interested. I've been super busy with some projects at work and home.. my driver project stopped although it was based off an existing design here I have one pushing 4A... it's getting a little hotter than I'd like tho.

Goodluck!
 




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