Creating your own PoEPi application

PoEPi Design Guide

The PoEPi is designed to be a template that others can build there own applications on. With the high cost of new home & workplace electrical installations the PoEPi gives you the option to run your own electrical wires (Ethernet Cable) without having to deal with the high voltage normally associated with lighting and appliances. This guide will show you how to create your own PoEPi applications. Before you start there are a few things you will need.

• An up to date KiCad installation (Windows, Linux, Mac)
• Some knowledge of electrical design and power usage
• An idea to build

Will your Design Fit

Before getting into it and smashing out your design you first need to consider the following design constraints;

• Design uses less than 10 watts of energy (Watts = Volts * Max Current Draw)
• Uses 5v @1.8A or 3.3v @1A (combination must be less than 10W)
• Fits in under ~100mm^2
• Can be implemented on 2 layers of copper
• Will not have mechanical interference with the Raspberry Pi

Setting up the Design

first you will need to clone the project from github and open it with KiCad. In the project directory there are multiple boards and you can build on any of them.

git clone https://github.com/julien8/PoEPi-hardware

Before adding your own components you will need to delete what you don't need from the design. This will be components that are labeled as application specific. Below is an image of critical components that can not be deleted for the design to function correctly, they are highlighted in blue.

1. Delete schematic components
2. Export netlist
3. Open PCBNew and import the netlist (you can select remove unused components but may loose mounting holes)

Adding your own components

You can now add your own design to the existing one. You can copy it right onto the existing schematic or create it in the schematic. After this is done you can follow the usual design flow of KiCad.

Design tips

1. DO NOT DELETE EXISTING ANNOTATION
2. Attach your power traces as close to C12 as possible
3. Create a ground plane and Tie it to the ground star point by C12
4. Keep RF components as far from the PoE circuit as possible