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Rev B1 ECN-05 — Mixed-variant panel (draft)

Draft — EverTag Station only

Proposed manufacturing panel for the Connectivity Module family (232200–232204). Not approved. Current unit-board revision is A2. Does not apply to Tag (230220).

Ships in the same B1 respin as Rev B1 ECN-01 — GPIO remap.

What changes

Today each Station article is ordered and released as a separate unit PCB. For B1 qualification and first production batches, propose a single 10-up panel that holds two boards of each variant, with per-position BOM and silkscreen, ordered from EMS as one panel PCB — not ten separate minimum-order runs.

A2 (current) B1 (proposed)
EMS order unit One article per PO line (232200, 232201, …) One PO line for panel article 232205
Panel content Not defined for Station 10 unit boards: 2× each of 232200–232204
BOM / silkscreen Per article release package Per panel position (variant-specific populate + legend)
Release package pcb-232200A2 - manuf … (per board) Panel manuf package plus per-unit-board release records

Why: Lower NRE and setup cost for a respin that touches all five variants; one SMT run proves populate rules for the full Station matrix; avoids ordering 10× minimum quantity per article for a small qualification batch.

Panel composition (proposed)

Proposed panel article: 232205 — Station mixed-variant qualification panel (article number subject to HW lead confirmation).

Qty Unit article Variant name Notes
2 232200 Base Std Anchor, no battery, no gateway
2 232201 Base Bat Anchor + battery
2 232202 Base WiFi Gateway + ESP32-C5
2 232203 Base Bat+WiFi Gateway + battery
2 232204 Base Bat+Radar Anchor + battery + occupancy sensor
10 Single panel

Suggested panel layout: 2×5 or 5×2 array (final geometry TBD with EMS — break-tab / mouse-bite strategy, fiducials, tooling holes).

Each unit position on the panel must be uniquely identifiable after depanelization (position label on silkscreen or barcoded panel drawing for EMS traceability).

Technical approach

Shared layout, variant-specific assembly

Station variants share one Connectivity Module layout (232200 is the reference; 232201–232204 are populate deltas). On the mixed panel:

  1. One panel Gerber set — outer frame, routing, fiducials, breakaways.
  2. Five assembly variants — Altium Assembly Variants (or equivalent) mapped to panel positions, so each of the ten slots gets the correct DNP/populate list (ESP32, battery charger, divider resistors, sensor, etc.).
  3. Five silkscreen legends — each unit shows its article number and variant name (e.g. 232202, Base WiFi). Do not reuse a single generic silk for all positions.
  4. Variant detection resistors — confirm R_bottom (and any B1 GPIO-remap moves) match the Firmware Compatibility V_SAMPLE table per position.

Ordering and EMS flow

Step Owner Action
1 HW / Altium Build panel 232205 with position → variant map
2 HW Export one manufacturing package for the panel
3 HW Export five pick-and-place / BOM outputs (or one multi-variant PnP) keyed to panel positions
4 EMS Single PO — one panel price, one SMT setup, one stencil order (unless EMS requires per-variant stencil — see open items)
5 EMS Depanelize → ten labeled unit boards
6 HW QA: V_SAMPLE + visual silk per article; spot-check gateway/battery/sensor populate

Unit boards remain 232200–232204 for firmware, enclosure, and revision history. The panel is a manufacturing convenience, not a new product SKU sold to customers.

Release artifacts (proposed naming)

Follow the Tag panel precedent (230220 + panel 230222 in one release zip). Proposed B1 naming (confirm with release repo):

Type Proposed filename pattern
Panel manufacturing pcb-232205B1 - manuf <date>.zip
Combined release (panel + all unit articles) pcb-232205B1-232200B1-…232204B1 - release <date>.zip

Each unit board still gets its own git tag at EMS lock: pcb-232200-B1, …, pcb-232204-B1. Panel tag: pcb-232205-B1.

Update each unit board Revisions page with Manufacturing panel: 232205 (B1 mixed variant panel) when B1 ships.

Scope

Item B1 change
232200–232204 No schematic change from this proposal alone — panel is manufacturing packaging for boards already changed by other B1 proposals
232205 New — mixed 10-up panel article
230220 Tag No change — Tag keeps its own panel story (230222)
232210 / 232506 Out of scope

Open items

# Question Owner Status
1 Confirm panel article number 232205 (or alternate in 232205–232209 range) HW lead Pending
2 Panel array geometry (2×5 vs 5×2) and depanel method Altium + EMS Pending
3 One stencil vs multiple — ESP32 and battery footprints differ by variant EMS Pending
4 How EMS wants BOM delivered (5 files vs one multi-variant PnP) EMS Pending
5 Minimum order quantity — does one 10-up panel satisfy all variants for B1 qual? HW + EMS Pending
6 After B1 qual: revert to per-article panels for volume, or keep mixed panel for small batches? HW lead Pending
7 Release zip naming convention in release repository HW lead Pending

Implementation plan (after design approval)

  1. Altium — Create panel project 232205; map ten positions to assembly variants; variant-specific silkscreen layers or step-and-repeat text per cell.
  2. Cross-check B1 populate — Panel variants must match B1 schematics from ECN-01 GPIO remap, ECN-02 enclosure mounting, ECN-03 PAN611 keep-out, and ECN-08 stepped footprint (Tag ECN-09 is out of panel scope).
  3. EMS quote — Single panel vs ten separate lines; capture stencil and setup delta.
  4. Documentation — Add 232205 stub under Station PCB (panel article only); update unit revisions.md at B1 release with panel reference.
  5. First B1 build — Order panel 232205; validate all five V_SAMPLE bands and functional smoke tests per variant.

Steps 1–3 can run in parallel with other B1 layout work. Step 5 is gated on approved Gerbers and EMS slot.