Kitronik Bluetooth Amplifier Progress Report
To coincide with the release of our most recent catalogue we put up a coming soon article in which we covered some new materials, V2 of our motor driver board, an E-Textiles kit for the BBC micro:bit and a Bluetooth amplifier. Since then we now stock the mentioned materials, we’ve released V2 of our motor driver board, the E-Textiles kit is available to order and finally, we have some very good news for those of you that were waiting for our Kitronik Bluetooth Amplifier.

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Within the last couple of days we’ve finished testing our most recent prototype board and we’ve given it a clean bill of health which means we can now move out of development and into finalising parts suppliers and costing.

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A single board with no components yet added.
  While we wait for all the boring stuff to happen we thought it might be of interest to cover how we went from the initial idea to a fully working product.

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A batch of boards, ready for separating into singles before being loaded into the pick and place machine.
 

Kitronik Bluetooth Amplifier Beginnings:

We’d had a number of requests from Teachers to produce a Bluetooth Amp that students could use as a basis for their design and technology amplifier case designs. Nearly two years ago we built a working prototype using the Bluetooth modules that were available at the time but we determined that releasing a product that was certified for use in the EU and USA was too expensive with the parts we had available to us. Since our first design the cost and functionality of fully certified Bluetooth modules have dropped to a point that means we can offer a high quality and low price product to our customers.

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A fully loaded board, programmed and tested and ready to pair.
 

Initial Design Aims:

We wanted the kit to have an impressive sound quality so we opted for the PAM8008 which is also used in our 3W amplifier. There are many benefits of using this modern class-D amplifier, one is that the low working voltage (2.2V to 5.5V) means we can power the kit from microUSB, such as a mobile phone charger. It also lets us use an optional LiPo battery at 3.7V so the kit can be truly wireless! The Bluetooth module on the PCB has some really nifty features too, it has a built in regulator so it can share a 5V power supply with the Amplifier IC and also a LiPo charger so it can handle power management of the optional LiPo battery. The module can even feed back battery information to your phone (iphone only so far) so your phone can tell you if the kit needs charging.

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The completed kit is very small and neat, allowing for compact case designs.
 

An Overview Of The Design Process:

We made a list of features we would want from a Bluetooth kit: stereo (2 channels), small form factor, easy to solder to pads for the speakers, large comfortable power switch (my Bluetooth amp at home has a small awkward switch), ease of use and so on. Then started looking at components that could deliver these features. There’s a lot of work in picking the right parts, a good design delivers all the features of the design brief with as few parts as necessary.

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An example of a 3D printed case design to house the Bluetooth Amp and Speakers. 
 

How The Initial Design Aims Evolved:

The initial design worked reasonably well, it played music and paired to a phone however it required the pressing of a pairing button on the Bluetooth kit to switch the module to pairing mode each time the kit was turned on. This got tiresome in the testing process so we decided we didn’t want to inflict it on our customers so with a bit of re-programming we adjusted the Bluetooth module to automatically enter pairing mode whenever it is powered on (unless of course it is already paired.) When powered on, it also automatically pairs with the last device it was connected to. This means you don’t have to go hunting through the Bluetooth settings on your phone each time you turn the kit on to pair. There were a few cosmetic changes too, the first attempt was larger and more rectangular but we managed to save some space with clever routing which helps bring the price of the PCB down and also makes it more compact and neater to fit into your projects!

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A test rig prototype for programming new boards and for making sure they work.
 

Product Testing Process:

The testing process varies depending on the product. As the Bluetooth kit is quite complex the testing needs to be very thorough. This includes testing at a wide range of voltages, from a battery and through the micro-USB connector. Pairing with a variety of devices from different manufacturers, testing with different speakers and different music (to test bass and treble response). That’s on top of the standard testing that all the boards with any pre-soldered parts we produce receive.   We will be releasing details of pricing and a release date very soon. To ensure you are the first to know, sign up for our newsletter here.

8 comments

Rob Haywood

Rob Haywood

Hi, It's available to buy now https://www.kitronik.co.uk/c2160-bluetooth-stereo-amplifier-kit.html Rob

Shivam

Shivam

When is the exact date it will come out ThankYou!

Rob Haywood

Rob Haywood

Hi Brian, It's looking likely to slip into January now. We made a few improvements before we ordered the final version of the PCB. Rob

Brian Wafer

Brian Wafer

Kitronik Bluetooth Amplifier . When will mit be available ? Thank You

Mark Donnison

Mark Donnison

Hi Shereen, We still hope to hit December but due to some last minute design changes to improve the sound quality our early December estimate is looking more like mid to late. Apologies for the delay but we wanted to ensure that we had the best product possible. Both of our company Directors assisted by jumping on the tweaking and testing to speed the process up. Also, apologise to your students for us please.

Shereen McCogg

Shereen McCogg

Are you still anticipating meeting the initial deadline given (early December) or has it been pushed further back? My students are asking every day. I cannot wait.

Mark Donnison

Mark Donnison

Hi Carl, we can't wait to get it out there. We get asked on a daily basis when it will be ready so we have some idea of how popular it might prove to be, we'll try to not get caught out!

Carl St. James

Carl St. James

Very much looking forward to this. I've been experimenting with getting a wireless speaker to work at GCSE level for years but it has always been too costly or uneconomical, often resorting to stripping the parts of existing products. I hope you don't underestimate how many orders you may receive!

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