12/31/2025 11 AM - Starting the Project

I’m finally starting my Devboard project! I spent some time today just thinking about what to call it. I didn't want a boring name like "My Project," so I decided on DraX Board.

It sounds cool and short, which is good because I want to print the name on the board later. The "X" makes it feel like a special version of a regular board.

I'm using the RP2040 chip for this. I picked it because a lot of people use it, so if I get stuck, it should be easier to find help. I’m a bit nervous about the soldering part since the pieces are so small, but I'm excited to see if I can actually get it to work.

12/31/2025 12:04 PM - Building the Brain

I’ve officially started the schematic for the DraX Board. It’s starting to look like a real circuit now!

I’ve spent the last half hour getting the main parts onto the page in KiCad. I’ve added:

The USB-C port so I can actually plug it in and program it.

The Voltage Regulator, which is super important so I don't fry the chip with too much power.

A bunch of capacitors to keep the power steady.

And of course, the RP2040 chip.

It’s a bit of a maze making sure all these tiny lines go to the right pins. My next step is adding the Crystal Oscillator.

12/31/2025 12:48 PM - Finishing the subsystems

I stayed locked in for this part and finished the most critical "subsystems" of the board. I'm moving fast to keep the momentum going.

Work completed:

Clock Circuit: Wired the 12MHz crystal with 15pF load caps and the $1k\Omega$ series resistor on XOUT. This gives the RP2040 its heartbeat.
Flash Memory: Integrated the W25Q128 chip for code storage. I added the $10k\Omega$ pull-up on the CS line to prevent boot glitches.
Bootsel & Reset: Added the push-button and resistor logic so I can actually put the board into programming mode.
Break: Took a quick 3-minute snack break to stay sharp before finishing the wiring.What’s Next:The core "brains" are done. The very next thing I need to do is break out the I/O headers. I need to map the GPIO and ADC pins to physical pins so the DraX Board can actually connect to other hardware.

12/31/2025 2 PM - Completed Schematics.

I kept the momentum from the subsystems and pushed through to finalize the entire schematic. This was the "marathon" session where everything came together—from the logic brains to physical breakout and power management.

Work Completed:

The "Dual-Power" System: Successfully integrated a battery-powerable option. I added a JST connector for LiPo batteries and used a Schottky diode ORing circuit (D1 and D2) to allow seamless switching between USB and Battery power without back-feeding.

I/O Breakout Headers: Mapped out the full 20-pin dual headers (J2 and J3). I broke out all essential GPIO and ADC pins, ensuring the board is breadboard-ready for external hardware.

Footprint Assignment: Completed the most tedious part of the process—assigning footprints to every single component. From the RP2040 QFN package to the SOD-123 diodes and the specific USB-C receptacle, every symbol now has a physical footprint ready for the PCB.

Final Organization: Cleaned up the "tangles" and organized the schematic into logical, labeled boxes for Power, Flash, Crystal, and Headers to ensure the board is professional and readable.

12/31/2025 8 PM - Starting of PCB

Moved from schematic to PCB. Spent 2 hours on placement and initial traces.

The Work:

Placement: Positioned RP2040, Flash, and Crystal. Aligned decoupling caps directly next to power pins.

Power Path: Placed USB-C, Diodes, and Regulator. Kept the battery connector clear of the logic area.

Headers: Locked J2 and J3 into breadboard-standard alignment.

Routing: Just started. High-priority traces (Power/GND) and QSPI lines are first.

12/31/2025 10 PM - Middle of PCB routing

I’ve reached the halfway point of the PCB layout phase. This session was a 2.5-hour deep dive into the most complex routing sections of the board.

The Work Completed:

High-Speed Data: Spent significant time routing the differential pairs from the USB-C connector to the RP2040.

Signal Integrity: Carefully managed the trace lengths and paths for the USB D+ and D- lines to prevent data corruption.

Component Optimization: Refined the placement of decoupling capacitors (C4, C9) to ensure they are as close to the power pins as possible.

Power Trunking: Started laying the primary 3.3V and 5V power rails to distribute current across the board layers.

Rest: Took a necessary 10-minute lunch break. Last entry of the day

1/1/2026 9 AM - Finished routing GPIO pins

First entry of today.
Locked in for 45 mins. Got the rest of the wiring done so the board is almost ready.

The Work:

GPIO Routing: Connected all the data pins to the big side headers J2 and J3.

Subsystems: Finished the paths for the 12MHz Crystal and the Flash chip.

Clean Up: Made sure the traces don't cross each other and everything is direct.

Checking Pins: Double checked the labels on the chip match the header pins.

Next thing is to route all common GND pins together.

1/1/2026 11 AM - Debugging errors

Finished with a heavy debugging session. Spent the time clearing out all 22 errors to make the board manufacture-ready.

The Work:

Fixing Islands: Moved traces around J2 and J3 headers to let the GND copper flow through.

Thermal Reliefs: Adjusted C4 and other caps so they have enough "spokes" to connect to the ground plane.

Closing Connections: Hunted down the 13 unconnected items and finished the last bits of copper routing.

Final Pass: Re-ran the DRC until the error count hit zero.

Going to start modifying custom silkscreens

1/3/2026 - 3D Renders

The project is officially wrapped up. I spent the final session today moving from the technical design to the presentation and documentation phase.

The Work:

3D Visualization: Opened the 3D Viewer to check for component collisions. Generated high-quality renders of the DraX Board to see how the final green and gold hardware will look.

File Organization: Cleaned up the project folder. Sorted the schematic, PCB layout, and footprint libraries so the file structure isn't a mess.

Production Prep: Exported the final Gerber files and Drill files needed for manufacturing.

1/4/2026 - Finalising

This is the final entry for this project. Wrapped up and added some nice touches.

The Work

Rechecking Tracks: Looked through the schematics and PCB for any errors

DRC Check: Checked if everything comes under the DRC.

3D Renderings: Did some final 3D renderings.

Uploaded Gerber files and assigned everything

Final screenshots for read.me