Vbench pod

BenchPod

NOTE1: Some tagged versions will have obvious mistakes in them, but as those got built, they're in the repo for historical reasons.

NOTE2: Don't build these boards yourself without any necessary changes. The current tagged versions are not production-ready yet.

An open hardware bench tool with sensor sim, CAN, analog I/O, and power control, with a Python SDK and pytest integration.

Embedded teams often end up with a bench full of equipment that's hard to share, hard to automate, and difficult to use remotely. Setting up tests often means being physically present, and that doesn't scale well across a team.

BenchPod is an attempt to make that easier. One board with sensor simulation over I2C and SPI, CAN bus, analog input and output, programmable power control, a logic analyzer, and an FPGA for fast protocol mocking, connected over WiFi so it can be shared across a team or accessed remotely. A Python SDK and pytest integration make it straightforward to go from manual bench work to automated tests without changing your setup.

This repo contains the KiCad source files for the board, plus the SPICE simulations used while designing the analog front ends.

What's in this repo

pcb/
  benchpod/                      # KiCad project for the analog + digital board
    vbench-pod.kicad_pro         #   KiCad project file
    vbench-pod.kicad_pcb         #   PCB layout
    vbench-pod.kicad_sch         #   Top-level schematic
    analog-power-v2.kicad_sch    #   Analog supply rails
    analog-switching.kicad_sch   #   Analog signal routing / muxing
    analog-to-digital-v2.kicad_sch  # ADC front end
    digital-to-analog-v2.kicad_sch  # DAC output stage
    LogicAnalyzer.kicad_sch      #   Logic analyzer
    power.kicad_sch              #   Power control
    ethernet.kicad_sch           #   Ethernet
    usb.kicad_sch                #   USB
    fp-lib-table                 #   Footprint library references
    sym-lib-table                #   Symbol library references
  benchpod-digital/              # KiCad project for the digital-only board (same sheet layout)
  libs/                          # Shared symbol, footprint, and 3D-model libraries

spice/                           # LTspice / ngspice simulations for the analog front ends
  adc-v1/  adc-v2/  dac-v2/

Library paths in fp-lib-table, sym-lib-table, and the PCB are stored relative to the project (${KIPRJMOD}/..), so the project opens in KiCad straight after cloning.

Which board do I have?

The board name is printed on the silkscreen (for example "BenchPod v3-r1"). Find it in the table below to get the git tag with the exact design files for your board:

To get the files for your board, check out its tag:

git checkout analog-v3r1

Every tag holds all KiCad projects; use the folder from the table. Older boards: v1.0.0 and v1.0.1 are v1, v2.0.0 is v2.

The v3 tags used to be named v3.0.0 (now analog-v3), v3.0.1-digital (now digital-v3), v3.0.1-analog (now analog-v3r1) and v3.0.2-digital (now digital-v3r2).

One firmware runs on all v3 boards. The pod's own current needs firmware newer than 3.5.1. The v3-r2 board needs firmware newer than 3.9.4: older firmware runs it as a v3-r1 and its DAC outputs and ±12 V stay off.

License

Hardware (schematics, PCB layout) is released under CERN OHL-W v2.