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HiveBoard V1.000

The HiveBoard is a STM32H7 based development board. It harbors 6 USB-C channels to which up to 6 Beeboards can be connected.

Figure HiveBoard

Important

The USB-C at the top end of the HiveBoard are not actual USB-C. The connector was used because it houses five differential pairs which were required.

Note

The HiveBoard requires, on average, 1 A of current plus 0.4 A per BeeBoard connected. The absolute maximum calculated is 4.3A, with 6 BeeBoards sinking their maximum current.

The HiveBoard is pluggable by three methods :

  1. The 5V jack 3A

  2. The screw terminal block (+ terminal on the right side)

  3. The Micro-USB

The HiveBoard has the three basic protections of a complex circuit. It is protected in reverse polarity, over-voltage and overcurrent. The main switch located on the left bottom has three positions :

Down: power is taken from the Micro-USB connector.

Middle: Off state

Up: power is taken from either 5V Jack or screw terminal block.

Important

If both 5V jack and screw terminal are connected, they will fight each other. Meaning that the one with lower voltage will receive current from the other one. It is recommended to use only one of these 2 methods at a time.

Note

Although the board can be powered by Micro-USB, not all the components on the board will be activated if powered by that method. Refer to the schematics and the Available UI for more info on the switches.

System operation

The top 6 USB-C are used to connect BeeBoards. The connectors are separated in pairs. Each pair (0A-1A/0B-1B/0C-1C) is supported by a single SPI channel from the STM32H7.

Error

If the V1.000 version of the HiveBoard is used, reworks will be necessary for correct operation of the system. For more details, see the schematics.

The Ethernet connector is used to connect the HiveBoard to a host (be it a robot's embedded computer or any device that is to be swarm-enabled using the SwarmUS platform). The right side 100 mil connector is for exposing the unused I/Os of the STM32H7 in the case the user wants to supplement the HiveBoard with some other expansion card.

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