Ocean Board
Hardware- 1 Devlogs
- 22 Total hours
A custom devboard with a rp2040!
nice work!
Heyo! Your repository looks almost perfect! They only thing you're really lacking is a gerber.zip file you can upload directly to a manufacturer. I would put it in a production folder to make it easier for others to replicate your project.
Hiya! Again, please don't use AI in your README, and include some images of your project, such as 3D renders in KiCAD in it. Additionally, please upload your PCB source files to your PCB folder and add screenshots of your PCB layout and schematic to your README. Also, please take a second look at your BOM (10 PCBs at 50 cents/piece?). Thanks!
Great work on this project, it sounds really cool !
Unfortunately, we can't fund a hot air soldering station and isopropyl alcohol, expecially when its more than half your BOM - generally we only fund absolutely necessary stuff like a basic soldering iron kit for 10 - 20$, and i saw the hackpad you submitted for review so you should have one already ! My recommendation to you is to use a local makespace if you have one near you or the assembly service that PCB manufacturers have !
Its just not reasonable to fund 100$+ on a soldering station + other tools when the actual project is only 30$ !
Hi, awesome that you designed this project in a single 11 hour marathon! Please don't use AI in your README though, humans will read it, so write it yourself too! Include a total price and the currency it's in in your BOM.csv, and convert the price(s) to USD. Thanks!
Ocean Board
August 17, 2026 · 11 hours, one sitting
I finished Ocean Board today.
Ocean Board is a custom devboard I designed around the RP2040 — my own take on what a Pico-style board should look like, built for the stuff I actually want to do with it instead of whatever the off-the-shelf version assumes. I sat down and just didn’t stop until it was done. Eleven hours later, it’s real.
Why I built this
I wanted a board that was mine — something I understood down to every trace and part choice, not just another Pico clone I bought off a shelf. RP2040s are everywhere, but building my own version meant I got to decide exactly what went on it and why.
What’s actually on it
- RP2040 — the chip doing all the thinking
- W25Q128 — 16MB of external flash, because I didn’t want to be tight on storage later
- TLV62568 buck converter — keeping power clean and regulated
- Two 16-pin GPIO headers (left and right) so I’ve got breakout room to actually build things on top of this
- BOOTSEL and RESET buttons — small, but you don’t appreciate them until you’re stuck without one
- Micro-USB for power and programming
- The usual supporting cast of caps, an inductor, and a couple of precision resistors making sure everything plays nice
The 11 hours
Honestly it was one of those sessions where I sat down expecting to make a dent and just… didn’t stop. Nailing down the BOM, double-checking footprints, assembly, and then the moment that actually matters — powering it on for the first time and finding out if eleven hours of work was going to boot or smoke.
(This is the part I want you to fill in — what actually went wrong, what almost didn’t work, the moment it powered on, anything you had to re-solder or debug. That’s the stuff that makes a devlog feel real instead of a spec sheet.)
What’s next
- Flash something basic on it — blink an LED, get USB serial talking
- Push the power regulation a bit to see how it holds up under load
- Write up the GPIO pinout properly so I’m not guessing later
- Think about a v2 — enclosure, more flash, maybe a different connector
Notes to self
Eleven hours is a long single sitting — next time I should actually track where the time goes. Also already have a BOM scaled up for a 10-board batch if I ever want to build more than one of these.
More devlogs coming as I start actually building on top of this thing.
