Ember
About the Ember PCB
Ember is an open source NXP PCB design by daniel360kim, published on GitHub. It is a 4-layer board measuring 64 × 64 mm, with 91 components from 41 distinct parts.
Its main chip is the TEENSY4.1, from the NXP family. Other key parts include the TPS563201DDCR, TPS73633DRBR, BMP388, LSM6DSRXTR and AZ1117-5.0. By type, the board carries 37 resistors, 23 capacitors, 8 connectors, 8 diodes, 7 transistors and 6 ICs.
It belongs with the robotics & motion designs in this gallery.
From the project
Thrust vector control rocket via differentiable simulation and reinforcement learning.
A differentiable 6-DOF rocket simulator that trains a neural flight controller by backpropagating through physics.
Ember is an end-to-end platform for developing thrust-vector-controlled (TVC) model rockets: a fully differentiable PyTorch flight dynamics engine, a neural attitude-control policy trained directly through the simulated physics, and a custom flight computer to fly the learned controller on real hardware.
Main components on the Ember
Ember bill of materials (BOM)
91 components, 41 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.
| Qty | Part | Footprint | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TPS563201DDCR | SOT95P280X110-6N | U2 |
| 1 | TPS73633DRBR | SOT95P280X145-5N | U3 |
| 1 | BMP388 | XDCR_BMP388 | U4 |
| 1 | LSM6DSRXTR | LGA-14L_STM | U5 |
| 1 | TEENSY4.1 Teensy4.1 | Teensy41 | U6 |
| 1 | AZ1117-5.0 | SOT223-5_DIO | U7 |
| 3 | AO3401A | SOT95P240X120-3N | Q1, Q2, Q6 |
| 2 | 2N7002 | SOT95P240X111-3N | Q3, Q5 |
| 2 | AO3400A | SOT95P240X120-3N | Q4, Q7 |
| 1 | NRF24L01 | PinHeader_2x04_P2.54mm_Vertical | J1 |
| 1 | BATT_TERMINAL | 691502710002 | J2 |
| 1 | 5V Terminal | 691502710002 | J3 |
| 1 | Pyro 1 | 691502710002 | J4 |
| 1 | Pyro 2 | 691502710002 | J5 |
| 2 | Servo | PinHeader_1x03_P2.54mm_Vertical | J6, J7 |
| 1 | Aux Ports | PinHeader_2x04_P2.54mm_Vertical | J9 |
| 1 | Buzzer | Buzzer_Murata_PKMCS0909E | BZ1 |
| 4 | BAT54 | SOT95P240X120-3N | D2, D3, D4, D5 |
| 1 | LED_RGB | LED_RGB_5050-6 | D6 |
| 1 | BZT52C5V1 | P35_SOD-123F | D7 |
Show 21 more
| Qty | Part | Footprint | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | LED | LED_0603_1608Metric | D8, D9 |
| 1 | 3.3 uH | L_0603_1608Metric | L1 |
| 12 | 0.1 uF | C_0603_1608Metric | C1, C4, C5, C10, C12, C13, C14, C15 +4 |
| 2 | 22UF 22uF | C_0603_1608Metric | C2, C3 |
| 1 | 10UF 10uF | C_0603_1608Metric | C6 |
| 4 | 10 uF | C_0603_1608Metric | C7, C17, C21, C22 |
| 1 | 10 nF | C_0603_1608Metric | C9 |
| 1 | 100 uF | WCAP-ASLI_6.3X7.7_DXL_ | C11 |
| 2 | 220 uF | CAP_UCD_6P3X7P7_NCH | C24, C25 |
| 6 | 10K 10k | R_0603_1608Metric | R1, R8, R14, R23, R26, R38 |
| 1 | 110K 1% | R_0603_1608Metric | R2 |
| 1 | 16K 1% | R_0603_1608Metric | R3 |
| 1 | 18k 1% | R_0603_1608Metric | R6 |
| 7 | 10k 1% | R_0603_1608Metric | R7, R16, R17, R18, R19, R30, R32 |
| 5 | 100K 100k | R_0603_1608Metric | R9, R12, R21, R24, R37 |
| 4 | 100 | R_0603_1608Metric | R10, R11, R20, R22 |
| 4 | 4.7K 4.7k | R_0603_1608Metric | R13, R15, R25, R27 |
| 3 | 1K | R_0603_1608Metric | R28, R31, R41 |
| 2 | 220 | R_0603_1608Metric | R29, R36 |
| 2 | R | R_0603_1608Metric | R33, R35 |
| 1 | ~ | R_0603_1608Metric | R34 |
Ember design files
The KiCad project lives in the daniel360kim/ember repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.
Ember: common questions
What microcontroller does the Ember use?
The Ember is built around the TEENSY4.1, from the NXP family.
How big is the Ember PCB?
The Ember measures 64 × 64 mm, has 4 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.
How many components are on the Ember?
91 components, from 41 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 Ember design files?
From the daniel360kim/ember 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 Ember design in my own project?
The repository has no license, so all rights stay with daniel360kim. Use it as a reference, and ask the author before reusing the design.
Can I test firmware for the Ember without the hardware?
Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug NXP firmware against it before you order a PCB.
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