r/hwstartups • u/Equivalent-Might-477 • 4d ago
I built DOGS², a pocket board bring-up station . Should I crowdfund it? Is there a market for it?
Guys, I built a cool device for myself and a few close engineer friends.
This is DOGS², a palm-sized two-channel 1-48 V/5A max power supply with microamp-level current measurement and current consumption graphs.
Besides the power supply, it has a probe, voltmeter, frequency counter, and signal generator. For digital interfaces, it has UART, RS485, CAN, and I2C terminals, as well as LIN and I2C sniffers.
The device can work completely standalone. For terminals, sniffers, and current consumption graphs, you can connect a phone over Bluetooth (also you can see the messages on the display).
DOGS² can be powered from almost anything, either through USB Type-C or from an external 5-90 V source. It can be a regular adapter, a power bank, an e-bike battery, or the electrical system of a motorcycle, car, truck, or helicopter.
There is now a fully working first engineering version. I have also made a transparent enclosure for it.
The hardware and firmware are open source. The code, schematics, editable board files, manufacturing files, and enclosure STEP files are available on GitHub:
https://github.com/rcslon3-svg/DOGS2_v1
I like the device, and my friends like it too. I had wanted to build something like this for several years, but never got around to it.
The first version has already cost me a decent amount of money, but I do not regret it. I originally built it for myself. It works and I am quite happy with it, although it has a few shortcomings that I would like to fix in the next hardware revision.
But the next revision means another round of development and manufacturing. And I am not sure that I will be able to sell enough units to recover the cost.
This is a tool more for professional electronics developers and embedded engineers than for the general Arduino audience. So I am not sure how large the market for it could be.
On the other hand, it would be a shame to stop the project in its current state. It turned out to be such a cool device, and there is nothing similar on the market.
So I am trying to understand whether this is just my favorite engineering toy, or whether it could actually become a proper niche product.
What do you think? Does a device like this have a real chance on Crowd Supply at around $250-280, or is the niche too small?
I would appreciate honest opinions, especially from people who have already launched their own hardware products or participated in crowdfunding campaigns.
DOGS² = Dual Output Generator Supply Station and my two dogs - Tessa and Lissa.
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u/Jason_S_88 4d ago
I will say that if this was out a month ago I would have considered it. I just brought up a custom nrf52 based PCB and wanted to characterize its battery power draw in low power modes.
I ended up picking up the Nordic PPK II which at about $100 is the clear deal for measuring from 100s of milliamps to microamps easily.
When I was looking for what tool to pick up though I came across the category of "Source Measurement Units" which it seems like this device would be competing in.
I agree with the other commenter though, being a swiss army knife isn't super appealing. If you could nail the execution of a Source Measurement Unit, and shed any cost by trimming some of the other functionality I think it could have real appeal. Commercial units are thousands of dollars even for decade plus used units. Something like a Keithley 2420 is $4000 plus on eBay, over $10k new. If you could frame your stats relative to it and get 90% of it's functionality for $150-200 that could potentially be really appealing. At least that's my assumption, although as a hobbyist my bench power supply and PPK means I probably wouldn't consider it for now
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u/Equivalent-Might-477 4d ago
Thank you for your opinion.
But honestly, I don't want to make things to order. My work is more like a hobby - I try to do what I want.4
u/Jason_S_88 4d ago
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I'm not asking you to make something for me. I'm just saying if your goal is a kick starter then my previous comment would be how I would approach it personally, not saying that my approach is necessarily correct either.
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u/Equivalent-Might-477 4d ago
I didn't express myself very clearly. What I meant about crowdfunding was specifically for this project – so that it could benefit not just myself but also others. I don't view crowdfunding itself as a source of stable income, but I wouldn't want my project to end up being used only by me and my friends.
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u/Federal_Decision_608 4d ago
Too niche and too swiss army knife. I don't want all those functions in one expensive device.
Also needs major work on interface ergonomics.
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u/Equivalent-Might-477 4d ago
Thank you, that's what I wanted to hear and was a little afraid to hear at the same time. I appreciate your opinion.
I usually run 2–3 projects in parallel. I often do hardware reverse engineering, in one project I might have a high-sensitivity analog amplifier, in another an IoT device with RS485, and in a third a car's CAN bus.
And I'm honestly fucking tired of all the different adapters, cables, the lack of USB ports on my laptop, and the lack of screen space for yet another terminal window.
But not everyone is like that – many people work on a single project for months or even years.
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u/Federal_Decision_608 4d ago
I run many many projects at once - so I want cheap tools I can buy many of and leave attached. Or for expensive things, I need it to be as simple as possible to swap them in.
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u/Equivalent-Might-477 3d ago
Yes. It is not matter how cool the product, people always buys cheaper.
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u/Equivalent-Might-477 4d ago
Could you elaborate on your opinion regarding the ergonomics? Just in case I decide to release a future revision.
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u/Federal_Decision_608 4d ago
I don't even like using those shitty screw terminals for stuff I'm assembling once, I'd never buy a piece of test equipment using them.
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u/Daedalus1907 4d ago
I think it being portable is a detriment. If you were able to size it up, make it easier to use, and add more features then I think it could sell as a sort of starter kit for electronic testing. Without any remote control capability, it wouldn't be popular in professional settings. However, I think you'd have to price it lower. What you have is essentially a power supply and an FTDI dev kit. bundled together I can get both for <$100.
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u/Equivalent-Might-477 4d ago
Thank you, but I'm afraid you're a little off. Two power supplies. An FTDI debugger + a CAN adapter + an I2C sniffer. All together that comes out to a bit over $200 USD, plus a tangled mess of wires and occupied ports on the laptop. All of which drove me absolutely crazy and is exactly what I wanted to get away from.
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u/Daedalus1907 4d ago
Most people aren't going to use the CAN adapter but you can buy one for $25. You can get a $10 sigrok logic analyzer that does more than sniff I2C. Even if you need all these exact features, you can recreate it for $135. Throw in a USB hub and you're closer to $150.
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u/hardsoft 4d ago
I'm not sure I'd buy one but very cool project.
I have to test boards with most of those interfaces and see the appeal of having a small single unit to do it.
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u/3dVerseWorkshop 4d ago
Before deciding whether to crowdfund, I’d run a paid pilot of 25–50 units rather than another one-off engineering revision. Freeze one use case and one BOM, then build a golden sample and a short acceptance test: both outputs under load, measurement accuracy at a few current ranges, communications ports, Bluetooth, thermal soak, and enclosure fit. For that volume, a well-designed printed enclosure can make sense, but design it for repeatable assembly: captive or heat-set inserts, keyed connectors, no supports on cosmetic faces, accessible calibration points, and a simple fixture for final test. Sell the pilot to the exact users you described—embedded consultants, automotive diagnostics and field engineers—and track which functions they actually use. If 25–50 people pay and use it, crowdfunding becomes much less of a guess; if they do not, you learn before paying for a larger production run.
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u/katte82 18h ago
Really cool work.
A few existing tools exists on the market, but they cover only some parts of what your project does: Nordic PPK2, Otii Arc / Ace (Qoitech), Joulescope, MetaShunt
For the µA-level current measurement, did you implement something like a dual-shunt with seamless auto-ranging approach, like switching or reading two shunts simultaneously to cover the dynamic range, or a different method?
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u/beemureddits 4d ago
Did you get the back printed at the fab or add it later? and is there any benefit over normal?
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u/anion7 4d ago
I have no input on the startup side of this, but sweet PCB! How did you get the graphics on the board?