HardLabs

PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit

AislingBee·MEng-PROJ500-2025-26·Charlie/KiCad/PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit/PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit.kicad_pcb

PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit PCB layout, top view — open source ESP32 board by AislingBee
Simulate this board

About the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit PCB

PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit is an open source ESP32 PCB design by AislingBee, published on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board measuring 79.6 × 61.4 mm, with 137 components from 60 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the ESP32-C3-MINI-1U-H4X, from the ESP32 family. Other key parts include the LM66100DCK, USBLC6-2SC6, TCAN3414DRBR, ESDCAN03-2BWY and LSM6DSOX. By type, the board carries 54 resistors, 42 capacitors, 18 ICs, 8 connectors, 4 diodes and 3 switches.

It belongs with the iot & wireless designs in this gallery.

From the project

The Github Repository for MEng project 2025/26

Author: Charlie Date: May 2026 Project: MEng PROJ500 — Plymouth Humanoid Robot

This folder contains all hardware and firmware deliverables produced during the 2025–26 academic year. It is structured into three top-level areas:

The robot's electronic architecture is split across two custom boards:

The PDU and RCU communicate over a dedicated management CAN bus (250 kbps). The RCU talks to the Thor AI computer (Jetson/PC) over UDP/Ethernet. Motors are driven by the RCU over two 1 Mbps CAN buses using the RobStride RS04 private protocol.

Main components on the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit

LM66100DCKESP32-C3-MINI-1U-H4XUSBLC6-2SC6TCAN3414DRBRESDCAN03-2BWYLSM6DSOXCDC6CEXMCP1316MT-31LE/OTAP2114HA-3.3TRG1STM32H723VGT6LAN8742A

PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit bill of materials (BOM)

137 components, 60 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.

QtyPartRefs
3
LM66100DCK
U1, U2, U8
1
ESP32-C3-MINI-1U-H4X
U3
1
USBLC6-2SC6
U4
3
TCAN3414DRBR
U5, U15, U16
3
ESDCAN03-2BWY
U6, U17, U18
1
LSM6DSOX
U7
2
CDC6CEX
CDC6CEx
U9, U13
1
MCP1316MT-31LE/OT
U10
1
AP2114HA-3.3TRG1
U11
1
STM32H723VGT6
U12
1
LAN8742A
U14
1
MMBT3904
Q1
1
ECS-.327-6-13X
Y1
1
USB_C_RECEPTACLE_USB2.0_16P
USB_C_Receptacle_USB2.0_16P
J1
1
RCU_B2B
J2
1
EXPANSION_HEADER
J4
1
IDC_02X05
IDC_02x05
J5
1
RJ45_AMPHENOL_RJMG1BD3B8K1ANR
RJ45_Amphenol_RJMG1BD3B8K1ANR
J6
1
IMU1
J7
1
CAN_MTR_R
J8
Show 40 more
QtyPartRefs
1
CAN_MTR_L
J9
1
Buzzer
BZ1
2
1.95A
F1, F2
1
ESP_BOOT
SW1
1
SW_SPST
SW2
1
ESP_EN
SW3
1
NTC/10K
TH1
1
GR_ESP_STATUS
D1
1
GR_PWR
D2
1
GR_MCU_LED_0
D3
1
OR_MCU_LED_1
D4
1
120R/3A
FB1
1
220R/0.6A
FB2
7
1uF/16V(10%)
C1, C2, C3, C14, C19, C31, C33
18
100nF/50V(10%)
C4, C5, C9, C12, C13, C15, C20, C21 +10
2
10uF/10V(20%)
C6, C7
3
4.7nF/50V(10%)
C8, C39, C42
5
4.7uF/16V(10%)
C10, C11, C18, C23, C37
2
6pF/50V(10%)
C16, C17
2
2.2uF/10V(10%)
C26, C30
1
470pF/50V(10%)
C32
1
22nF/50V(10%)
C36
1
1nF/2kV(10%)
C40
4
1k(10%)
R1, R17, R20, R24
8
10k(10%)
R2, R3, R4, R8, R9, R18, R19, R25
2
5.1k(1%)
R5, R6
1
100k(10%)
R7
6
60R(1%)
R10, R15, R45, R48, R49, R50
5
22R(1%)
R11, R12, R51, R52, R54
4
330R(10%)
R13, R14, R38, R42
5
0R(10%)
R16, R22, R23, R35, R53
1
10k(1%)
R21
2
100R(10%)
R26, R27
3
10R(10%)
R28, R29, R30
1
1.5k(10%)
R31
4
4.7k(10%)
R32, R33, R39, R44
1
33R(10%)
R34
2
510k/500V(10%)
R36, R43
1
12.1k(1%)
R37
4
49.9R(1%)
R40, R41, R46, R47

PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit design files

The KiCad project lives in the AislingBee/MEng-PROJ500-2025-26 repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit: common questions

What microcontroller does the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit use?

The PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit is built around the ESP32-C3-MINI-1U-H4X, from the ESP32 family.

How big is the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit PCB?

The PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit measures 79.6 × 61.4 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit?

137 components, from 60 distinct parts, with part numbers taken from the project's own BOM. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit design files?

From the AislingBee/MEng-PROJ500-2025-26 repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout, the schematic and the BOM; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit design in my own project?

The repository has no license, so all rights stay with AislingBee. Use it as a reference, and ask the author before reusing the design.

Can I test firmware for the PROJ500 - Real-Time Control Unit without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug ESP32 firmware against it before you order a PCB.

More boards in MEng-PROJ500-2025-26

Similar boards