Whatever Happened to the uSupply Project?

[EEVblog]

[langwadt]

you only had a few prototypes made or do you have boxes of them just missing software?

[Brumby]

From the video it seems he has 3 prototypes which need some hardware re-work before it can really progress.

The software situation is something else.  I think the idea of the software going open source might be a direction worth considering.

[nctnico]

From the video it seems he has 3 prototypes which need some hardware re-work before it can really progress.

The software situation is something else.  I think the idea of the software going open source might be a direction worth considering.

Making the software open source is not going to be some magic pill. I didn't watch the video about the software but if the software has an overly complicated structure (from Dave's comments I get the feeling this is the case) then it likely needs to be rewritten from scratch to make sense. And then there are all the custom parts. A design that uses standard parts is much easier to produce in small numbers without taking a huge risk.

[EEVblog]

The software situation is something else.  I think the idea of the software going open source might be a direction worth considering.

The software has been open source for years:
https://gitlab.com/eevblog/usupply-usb

[AleRoss]

I think it would be fun to rewrite it in plain C, anyone intrested?

[langwadt]

The software situation is something else.  I think the idea of the software going open source might be a direction worth considering.

The software has been open source for years:
https://gitlab.com/eevblog/usupply-usb

holy batman ...

[TheAmmoniacal]

I'm more in favour of making a competitor to the Matsusada palmtop series. As Dave himself hinted at in the chat with Shahriar.

[nctnico]

Those Matsusada palmtop PSUs are pretty similar in size compared to the small mains powered PSUs from Gophert and REK (all are switching). So making a competitor doesn't make much sense; it already exists which much higher output power as well. BTW: I have not been able to find any pricing information on the Matsusada palmtop series.

[TheAmmoniacal]

Those Matsusada palmtop PSUs are pretty similar in size compared to the small mains powered PSUs from Gophert and REK (all are switching). So making a competitor doesn't make much sense; it already exists which much higher output power as well. BTW: I have not been able to find any pricing information on the Matsusada palmtop series.

Sure there are many cheaper competitors that are functionally equivalent, it's all in the form factor and usability.

Matsusada quoted me €740,00/pc (excl. VAT) without the USB interface option, + €200/pc for the USB interface option. Absolutely ridiculous, and this is 1.5 years ago.

[SiliconWizard]

Cool to hear about the status of this project, even if it's not really good news.

While this video answers some of it, it could be interesting if you dedicated a video to the topic of project management, what to avoid, why some projects may fail, taking this project as an example. Many of us have experienced a similar fate for some of our projects.

I for one have designed a switching power supply a few years back, specifically made for accurately estimating current consumption for wide dynamic range profiles (typical of "low-power" devices with "sleep" currents in the µA range or less, and "active" currents of up to hundreds of mA.) Was based on counting the amount of energy delivered rather than on ADC measurements (which can become tricky for such wide dynamic ranges.) The main "issue" I ran into to make it a product is that it required longish calibration to meet the accuracy specs I had targeted, and also the parts were definitely not cheap. So the device never got to production stage, but I still have one prototype that I personally use on a regular basis.

So yeah, sometimes you have what looks like a good idea for a product, but a number of obstacles along the way just end up making it impossible to reach production or to even actually reach any sizeable market.

One question I have is, what was the approximate selling price you were thinking of for this uSupply?

[nctnico]

This make me think of 'long letter versus short letter'... what takes longer to make a plan/concept for? A product with lots of features or a product with just the right features?

[blackjetrock]

Would you supply the custom parts? As the software and hardware is open source, the only barrier to me actually building one and then maybe improving it is the custom parts. If you supplied those then you'd also manage to recoup some of the cost in creating them?

[TheAmmoniacal]

Would be interesting to know how many custom components you currently have in stock, are we talking hundreds or thousands of custom LCDs and planar transformers?

[AleRoss]

Are there updated schematics for it? The only ones i can find are there https://www.eevblog.com/projects/usupply/ but are still using the Arduino compatible processor

[EEVblog]

Would be interesting to know how many custom components you currently have in stock, are we talking hundreds or thousands of custom LCDs and planar transformers?

No, like a dozen or something.

[EEVblog]

I'm more in favour of making a competitor to the Matsusada palmtop series. As Dave himself hinted at in the chat with Shahriar.
(Attachment Link)

I got a wholesale quote on those once for potential sale on my store, and I was like, 

[EEVblog]

Those Matsusada palmtop PSUs are pretty similar in size compared to the small mains powered PSUs from Gophert and REK (all are switching). So making a competitor doesn't make much sense; it already exists which much higher output power as well. BTW: I have not been able to find any pricing information on the Matsusada palmtop series.

Crazy low cost.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001679200352.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002910489119.html

[nctnico]

Actually those are pretty crappy in general and quite large.

This is the Gophert supply style I have bought a bunch off:
https://aliexpress.com/item/4000059383601.html

Except for the binding posts, these are very nice, stackable (!) and small PSUs. Surprisingly accurate metering as well.

[TheAmmoniacal]

Actually those are pretty crappy in general and quite large.

This is the Gophert supply style I have bought a bunch off:
https://aliexpress.com/item/4000059383601.html

Except for the binding posts, these are very nice, stackable (!) and small PSUs. Surprisingly accurate metering as well.

Yeah, you're right. I have three of these Gophert PSUs myself and don't have much to complain about, mine have the binding posts at the back which is annoying, and they are not nicely stackable (they easily slide and fall off each other). Would be nice if they had circular cutout on the top for the feet to fit into or something.

I guess it's mostly aesthetic, the Matsusada ones just look cute and feel professional.

[nctnico]

I put some rubber stick-on feet on the Gophert PSUs to avoid sliding.

[EEVblog]

I guess it's mostly aesthetic, the Matsusada ones just look cute and feel professional.

They'd want to for 10 times the price.

[EEVblog]

I just thought...
Would there be a small market for the uSupply LCD on programmed board that you can retrofit to your own DIY PSU projects?

[nctnico]

I have been thinking about retrofitting older PSUs with digital readouts. One hard requirement for me would be to have at least backlit lcd or led. Ofcourse a small tft screen is nicer but that likely goes beyond the scope of the product and makes the readout too expensive  / complicated.

[SiliconWizard]

I just thought...
Would there be a small market for the uSupply LCD on programmed board that you can retrofit to your own DIY PSU projects?

Oh, I'm sure that would sell. Add a SPI and I2C interface. Maybe also add some kind of bezel so that's easier/cleaner to mount especially for people who won't design a custom enclosure.
The big plus of this display is the looks and readability, and the low power consumption too. So if you add some MCU, select something ultra-low power so you provide a very low power solution for the display, which would be nice for battery-operated PSUs or other projects.