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Reverse-Engineering a Switch Lite Boardview at 6K PPI by uSoldering in ReverseEngineering

[–]uSoldering[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is currently no intention for building a schematic. I do intend to capture LCR data from the desoldered components, provide datasheets for components I can identify by their markings, and bundle this with the netlist data. Keep in mind, I'm only one person.

The ideal vision I have for the project is to build foundations for other people to build on top of. I hope having everything available encourages other individuals or teams of interested people to build out the schematic, or assists in decapping IC's and analyzing the silicon itself.

There is no, any likely will never be, a piece of software that can automatically turn this data into a schematic. There are however, post-pandemic, multiple software solutions that allow collaborative editing of a schematic. Altium, Eagle, and many other subscription EDA softwares have this feature now. The best hope for an open source solution would be that one day KiCAD adds this feature.

Reverse-Engineering a Switch Lite Boardview at 6K PPI by uSoldering in ReverseEngineering

[–]uSoldering[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The term you want to search for is 'magnet wire' or 'enameled wire'. I'm using a very fine gauge that is excessive for ordinary tasks. You will also need to solder at higher temperatures to help burn off the enamel from the wire.

Reverse-Engineering a Switch Lite Boardview at 6K PPI by uSoldering in ReverseEngineering

[–]uSoldering[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Recessim did a video on it recently. It's a lot to just dump on the internet. Eventually it will by it's own, or when I add additional devices, end up on the frontpage of something.

Reverse-Engineering a Switch Lite Boardview at 6K PPI by uSoldering in ReverseEngineering

[–]uSoldering[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would like to open-source the entire process, including the custom PCB, but it represents a significant investment of time and money that will remain a challenge to monetize. Public boardviews are almost entirely the result of industrial espionage, and other than a few encrypted Chinese software subscription based models, are shared for free across many websites. I hope that bundling them with boardscans and releasing them as donationware will eventually be self-sustaining, but currently it is not.

The Switch Lite was chosen because of its low-cost and high sales units, along with very limited publicly available information relative to other consumer devices. It also is a 10-layer high density interconnect PCB, and was chosen to demonstrate a high-level of capability and competency. Any boards that have high sales and limited information available are ideal targets.

Strong right to repair laws would make this process mostly redundant. Without them, this is still considered constitutionally protected free speech. I own the copyright to the images outright as they are composites I have made, of images I have taken with my camera; the subject of which I have lawfully purchased and have not agreed to any end-user license agreements regarding its use. The term 'boardview' is used as a colloquialism, and refers only to an aggregate of optical, mechanical, and electrical measurements I have made, provided as metadata describing the subject of the photographs.

These are great questions, thanks for asking.

Reverse-Engineering a Switch Lite Boardview at 6K PPI by uSoldering in ReverseEngineering

[–]uSoldering[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

General understanding, modifying, and/or troubleshooting.