For Safety, I would suggest, TCCP01, TCCP02, TCCP03 from ST micro. They combined both MCU(stm32) + TCCP protection in the same die.
I was actually doodling with this tonight, figuring out if a Seeedstudio XIAO with a USB C M/M adapter would fit inside one of the cases.
I’m thinking that the custom case would stick out about 10mm (due to the USB adapter), and would fit some DuPont breadboard connectors in there for I/O.
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Yubico partnership for an official YubiKey expansion card (or a container for existing YubiKeys).
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I’m thinking a dock with 2 parts that use all 4 ports, increasing the height and increasing the number of expansion ports… Perhaps it can also have a metal frame that bolts on so you can mount the laptop (like the laptops in police cars or on industrial equipment.)
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Alas, from other posts I’ve seen re: people wanting HDMI in, I’m almost certain this is electrically impossible, or at least wildly infeasible. You’d basically need custom software running on the laptops and the connector would have to contain one or more video capture devices. At the very least, it’s not going to fit in something the size of 1-2 expansion cards, nor will it be particularly easy to use.
@iFreilicht had a pretty thorough response for the question of connecting to the laptop up as an interface device (for lack of a better term) for other host devices in this thread: Lapdock (for a mobile desktop experience and more!)
Random dumb idea: A pen. Just something you can pop out whenever you need to take a note / sign something.
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+1 for an embedded Software Defined Radio with an SMA antenna jack.
And gigabit Ethernet, of course.
A microcontroller with DuPont compatible pins is also a great idea. I don’t use microcontrollers often, but when I have an active project it’d be nice to have that built in.
Oh, and a second wifi card with good driver support for pen testing.
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It might be cool to see some sort of tracking device, like a Tile or preferably something open-source. Just a little module you can ping in the unlikely event you lose your precious Framework.
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Here is someone I found on the YouTube’s building expansion cards.
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Another dumb idea: Bluetooth headsets are getting pretty small. Maybe with a telescoping mechanism, one can fit into a module?
You know what I’d like??? A card with 2 USB-C ports per card…
Like, seriously, it looks like it can fit 2… so it feels like a waste to only have one…
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I wouldn’t just like dual USB C ports, but also dual USB A ports, One USB C and One USB A, One USB A and one Micro SD, One USB C and MicroSD, things like that. I wouldn’t mind being constrained to USB 3 speeds in each port, especially in the ones without USB C. I’m not sure Two USB As would fit in one module, nor one USB A and MicroSD, but I’m pretty sure one USB C and one USB A would physically fit just fine, at least port wise. I’d use a one C + one A module for charging and normal USB drives, a one usb C port module for more speed intensive tasks. Really just this one type of module (1A and 1C) would really help a lot. Same for a 1 C and 1 MicroSD module, which should also physically fit, port wise.
Another idea would be a flash storage module with a USB A, C, or Micro SD port. Sure, it would have to be smaller and slower than a proper SSD to coexist with the port on the side, but I think for things like data backup it would be useful. At that point, it may be more practical just to use a microSD card somewhere, but you would at least have more physical room for flash storage than microSD allows, I’d think.
Another idea I had was a USB A module with a microSD card slot on the SIDE, so while you wouldn’t be able to access it without pulling the module out, you’d still have relatively easy access to cheap expandable storage, while still having an extra USB A port.
Everyone needs to understand that it’s hard to have a type c and micro SD, it just doesn’t work electrically. Micro SD requires data + and - aswell as type c meaning that I need a switch/hub IC, USB to micro SD and all of the PD and DP protocol and chips, also most type c hub IC’s are out of stock. Two type A ports do not fit, neither one type c and one type a. ITS CHALLENGING TO FIT A 5 PIN HEADER ON A EXPANSION CARD. I’m not annoyed at framework, I’m annoyed at people who do not take circuitry and dimensions into account. I’d suggest people be a little more patient and let people like me to develop cards.
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Some ideas:
miniPCIe (I could use this so I could plug this thing in: XTRX | Crowd Supply)
SD Express card reader
SIM card reader (to allow for cell data)
accelerometer/gyroscope
GPS
Rumble (for use with video game emulators or somesuch)
DAC with TRS input and output, possibly fullsize 1/4" jacks if they fit, for use with mic/guitar on the go
FPGA co-processor
tiny stowable travel mouse
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Since from my perspective most of the time the number of ports is an issue and not the actual speed i think will be nice if there are available combo expansion cards that share the same bandwidth (ex: 2x USB-C, 1xUSB-C + micro sd, mini HDMI + USB-C). At least for the USB-C and microSD as the connectors are not that big and having only 1 on the expansion card is a waste of valuable space.
File this into yet another “People think electronics are magic” category. Too often in my own field (mechanics) I see people who have underdeveloped fundamental understanding of both electronics and software demanding the impossible of my colleagues. Alternatively, others attributing faults to purely mechanical reasons because they parrot incomprehensible things like “The software is a PID loop, it can’t be the cause” (What??? AAAAAAHHHHH!)
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With the talk of complexity of two-port solutions I almost don’t want to ask, but would it be easier to split one type-c/USB4 into a mini DisplayPort and a USB A? this might be more software oriented with how the USB4 specifications deals with such things, but it would essentially guarantee that laptop power delivery wouldn’t be considered at all like the dual port combinations above (which would simplify a few things right?)
While you can’t fit 50 lbs into a 10lb sack… Which is what some are asking for - I think it helps Framework to know what people are interested in… For the future.
Who knows, maybe the next version (15" etc) might have a mix of the current module size and new bigger ones as well.
On my end I am happy with the current modules. I swap them out as needed in the field. When at my desk I plug in one USB-C hub and I’m done.
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