Electronics

Thomas A. Horsley · Guest

Just for curiosity, how big a pain in the patoot is it to build a custom
device of some kind with a USB interface on it (curious about both 2.0 and
older USB standards).

How about a commercial device? Are there fantasticly expensive licenseing
and/or certification processes to go through?

(I hasten to add I have no plans at all, I'm just curious about the process
- don't contact me if you are a USB developer looking for a job :-).
--

tkirk · Guest

You can purchase components and system-on-chip type solutions that make
the hardware design for USB extremely simple for anyone that knows how
to design and build electronics circuits. Using these parts also
eliminates any need for licensing or certification for compatibility
with computers. The more difficult part is writing the firmware and PC
drivers that meet the specific needs of your device. For simple
interfaces, the drivers built in to Microsoft Windows will usually
suffice, and the firmware could be written and tested in a day or two
by a qualified engineer or developer, for a total system cost of less
than $2,000 total for engineering/development time, plus about $5-$10
per board you build in parts for the USB chips (assuming you're talking
low quantities, like between 1 and 100). More complex interfaces and
devices might require complex firmware or custom PC drivers, and then
you're talking about some pretty high development costs. If it is a
really simple system, you could probably do it yourself, using a
pre-made USB conversion kit board, and a few days learning how to do
the customizations to the firmware required.

Tim Kirk
tkirk@rogue-engr.com
Electronics Design Engineer
www.rogue-engr.com

Thomas A. Horsley wrote:

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