Epi 32U4

An extremely compact, Arduino-compatible ATmega32U4 USB Type-C dev board

May 30, 2023

Project update 2 of 9

Epi 32U4's Open Source Roots

by rallekralle

G’day. Welcome to our first weekly update. I can’t say I’m great at writing compelling text, but here we go anyway.

Today I’d like to talk a bit about the open source nature of the Epi-32U4 and why it’s important to me.

The reason I’m able to make things like the Epi is because of open source tools. I learned electronics and programming with the amazing Arduino ecosystem. I got started designing circuit boards with Fritzing, while the Epi-32U4 was designed using Kicad. Every graphic anything I’ve ever made was created with Inkscape or GIMP. Sadly, I wasn’t able to make a video for the project page, but if I could have you can bet it would’ve been edited with Shotcut.

Most things i’ve ever made are thanks to open source tools, so I want to give back. It’s only right that the stuff I make, which could be of use to someone else, should also be open source.

What inspired me to try and launch the Epi on Crowd Supply was the Lumen PnP machine. I didn’t want to have the Epi made in China, and the Lumen made me realise I could assemble it myself. I’ve been following Stephen and the other Lumen creators through their project’s development for a while. Since I’ve been building and working with 3D printers and other CNC machines for nearly a decade now, I decided to assemble a Lumen myself. It wasn’t difficult to build at all, but we’ll have to see how hard it is use to assemble many boards. Still, I feel good about it.

I’m still waiting for my cable chains, but here it is. Yes it’s very yellow, I thought that would be more fun than some dull colour!


Sign up to receive future updates for Epi 32U4.

Subscribe to the Crowd Supply newsletter, highlighting the latest creators and projects