Hello,
I am new to electronics development, and very new to Framework Expansion card development. I downloaded the Kicad Project for an Expansion Card from GitHub (ExpansionCards/Electrical/KiCad_templates/Expansion_Card at main · FrameworkComputer/ExpansionCards · GitHub) and I was wondering what the regulator was for. If anyone is familiar with designing USB devices and could provide an explanation that would be fantastic! Thank you so much
I recall seeing that on the example board. Pretty sure there is no purpose. Either it’s just there as an example or someone accidentally left it there when clearing off some board, intending to create just an empty template.
Nothing about USB in general, or the Framework specifically, requires that you have that regulator there.
I think it’s just an example component that needs USB power. Also lots of ICs require a 3.3V supply. So you can use it as a starting point. But it’s not required and you can delete it if your circuit doesn’t need it. The only important component is the connector and the 5.1kΩ CC-resistor (so that your card is properly recognized as a USB downstream device).