Author Topic: Little Bee Current Probe  (Read 30441 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline WestonTopic starter

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 217
  • Country: us
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #25 on: August 05, 2021, 08:13:00 am »
Received my Little Bee today and I'm trying to read the documentation. It is not obvious where the doco is in https://github.com/westonb/little-bee-B1 . My first guess was under the doc folder. When I navigated to the getting-started folder the rendered README.md file had broken links in it. For example the first link is:
https://github.com/westonb/little-bee-B1/blob/main/getting-started/doc/images/little_bee_v4_attachment.jpg
but should be:
https://github.com/westonb/little-bee-B1/blob/main/doc/images/little_bee_v4_attachment.jpg
Since all the links give blank images in my rendered README.md , I guess they all have the same path problem.

Since you have a github account, you could take some extra steps and put up that documentation in html at westonb.github.io (github has tutorials).
For example my repositories are at: https://github.com/doug-gilbert/ and the associated html documentation is at: https://doug-gilbert.github.io/ . I use LibreOffice Writer to generate (edit) html.

Sorry for not having this documentation up by the time the units shipped. I have a full set of operation instructions here now: https://github.com/westonb/little-bee-B1/blob/main/getting-started/README.md  Please let me know if anything in the instructions can be improved.

I have been meaning to get some sort of website up for a while now. I also have beefield.io registered. I ran into some issues last time I worked my way through the github.io hosting, I will have to try again sometime.


Which ferrite core was used in the probe? What is the core material?
What do you think about the use of the HMC1021Z-RC in the project? Is available.

The core is 5943001301 (fair-rite type 43 material) with a 8.25mm cut. I modeled a few different things and tried a few different materials. Given the gap size the material is not that critical.

The HMC1021Z is much physically larger and has 1/3 the magnetic field range. It does have the advantage of availability though.

I am not sure how many units I am going to end up making in total, but for now I have the part sourcing under control. If I were to think long term I would focus on switching to a TMR magnetic sensor. They do not have the saturation issues that AMR sensors have.



Also, just a heads up for anyone who is interested, the Little Bee units are now available for general sale through Crowd Supply and Mouser. I think there is ~35 units still left from the initial batch of 200 units I made.
 
The following users thanked this post: dougg, thm_w, Kean, ANTALIFE

Offline ANTALIFE

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 506
  • Country: au
  • ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
    • Muh Blog
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #26 on: August 20, 2021, 09:11:48 am »
Hey Weston

Quick question, does the sensor get damaged if it experiences saturation? By saturation I mean being in an excessive magnetic field to the point of having to be reset (RED indication LED)

Right now I am trying to measure the rise time of a solenoid current waveform, this solenoid sees a peak current of 10A and looks like it's large enough to throw the sensor off

Cheers, Anton

Offline e0ne199

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 131
  • Country: id
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #27 on: August 22, 2021, 06:33:14 am »
hello, is there any 10A-100A version of your probe? 5A is way too small for me anyway
 

Offline harrimansat

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 210
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #28 on: August 26, 2021, 09:19:29 am »
I got the notice today that the units have been shipped to Crowd Supply for distribution. I'm excited! I've wanted this kind of tool for a while!

Hi

Can you send pcb kits to Spain?. I have boutght a magnetic sensor, i have two HMC1041Z for this project.


I have tried to buy on your page and it says that it cannot send to Spain

Thanks

Regards

Miguel
 

Offline graybeard

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 431
  • Country: us
  • Consulting III-V RF/mixed signal/device engineer
    • Chris Grossman
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #29 on: February 11, 2022, 08:21:28 pm »
Is the Little Bee project dead? 

I ordered one last year.  I received a email notice yesterday from Crowd Supply that I am being issued a refund.

Quote
Hello,

This is Tanner over at Crowd Supply! I am reaching out to you today to inform you of the latest update with the Little Bee project. Unfortunately, the expected batch has no current ETA and production has been halted for various reasons. We can always alert you, for if and when they do eventually are made available again to purchase.

So I am going to issue you a full refund and cancel your order! You should see that refund in 2-5 days. The total refunded amount is 189.91

Sorry for the inconveniences!

Regards,
Tanner
Customer Support Team
Crowd Supply


Whats up?

Chris
« Last Edit: February 11, 2022, 08:25:17 pm by graybeard »
 

Offline natman69

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 61
  • Country: it
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #30 on: February 11, 2022, 09:13:19 pm »
Maybe shortage of HMC1041Z magnetic sensor or other component?  :-//

I've received the little-bee current probe with the first batch and I'am very happy with it!!!
 

Offline WestonTopic starter

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 217
  • Country: us
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #31 on: May 18, 2022, 02:50:38 am »
Sorry for the late replies, I noticed I was not being alerted by the forum notifications.

The Little Bee has indeed been discontinued. To be honest, I was really surprised to get so many orders and am happy to have received only positive reports.

This project fell prey to CE regulations and the supply chain shortage.

CE regulations make it so the probe can not be shipped to Europe without some pretty extensive certification. As a current probe the Little Bee would be subject to even more testing than is required for generic products. Its a few hundred pages of requirements. Crowd Supply is really clamping down on this too. Despite claims to the contrary you can not say your item is a kit or development board. If you look on Crowd Supply this is pretty heavy effecting most of the recent projects.

Secondly, the supply chain shortages hit this project pretty hard. About half the active parts are out of stock. The availability of the HMC1041Z magnetic sensor is the biggest issue. I was never able to obtain the parts directly from Honeywell and the reseller I was buying small quantities from ran out of stock. This leaves 3k reels as the only option and the likelihood of making close to 3k units and recouping that is pretty small.
 
The following users thanked this post: thm_w

Offline harerod

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 449
  • Country: de
  • ee - digital & analog
    • My services:
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #32 on: May 18, 2022, 07:56:15 am »
Weston, sorry to read about your problems. Chipageddon is real and I am not going into that at this point. You know that I have the TTi I-prober 520 in my lab, but I would have liked to see how your device compares.

However, regarding accreditation, I can only assume that you have fallen prey to the wrong consultants.
Both UL and CE should be pretty straightforward for a device like yours. CE will cost you a single fee, if at all, where UL, by its very nature, will produce recurring cost.
Without knowing the details, I see a typical pattern for anybody who has first, unprotected contact with a notified body. If you contact them and don't know the procedures, they have a tendency of selling you a premium package, which may prove a financial killer. This is not completely their fault. The "trick" is to know the procedures and standards, ask the correct questions and give the right answers.

It is a fact that an experienced guide will save you lots of time and frustration. What's even better, if your product meets certain requirements, you could even do a self declaration of CE CE declaration without involving a third party.

At any rate, should you want to have another go at this, I'd recommend that you look for a consultant. This forum is teeming with knowledgeable people. There is nothing magic about accreditation. However, it is important to have an idea about the pertinent standards (be it UL or CE) and build your design with those in mind.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2022, 06:34:34 am by harerod »
 

Offline thm_w

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 6278
  • Country: ca
  • Non-expert
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #33 on: May 19, 2022, 01:02:06 am »
Hopefully crowd supply lets sellers simply choose to not ship to the EU if they decide.

https://www.crowdsupply.com/guide/about-ce-certification
Profile -> Modify profile -> Look and Layout ->  Don't show users' signatures
 

Offline harerod

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 449
  • Country: de
  • ee - digital & analog
    • My services:
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #34 on: May 19, 2022, 06:42:45 am »
thm_w - thanks for the link. I was simplified too much, in my last post. These days I mostly do medical stuff that require third party involvement. Other designs, and the Little Bee might fit in that category, do not require a notified body to become involved. However, many producers decide to get a third party certificate anyways, to reduce the potential of gross fault.
UL doesn't give us that option. With UL you pay up front and you keep paying as long as you want to keep "den Stempel" ("their seal of approval", as we lovingly say in Germany).
 

Offline Neutrion

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 305
  • Country: hu
Re: Little Bee Current Probe
« Reply #35 on: July 27, 2022, 04:19:06 pm »
It makes me wonder how come that this project doesn't seems to come to fruition. Is there really no chinese company to produce it under a different name, maybe only as a self-build kit? There seems to only one overpriced seller on aliexpress.
Or everybody is taking the hard way here, downloading the plans, and buying the component one by one?
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf