What new Expansion Card types do you want to see released?

Very nice, my design is much more complex, if you were to take a look at my github.

Has the CYPD2119 and CY7C65210 as the CCG2 main controller and USB billboard

@nrp In a few months when I get these expansion cards made and being sold on the marketplace I wish to put some of the money I get off of selling the cards towards Framework, the company as you guys do not make that big of a margin I would like to pledge at least 10% of my profits as a thank you and a donation.

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Maybe some if this is already mentioned/included somewhere, but what about NFC card reader and SIM card slot for 4G or 5G mobile network.

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Not sure how feasible it is but: a numpad module. The way I imagine it is it would be the full width of the laptop and plug into both ports on the right side of if. One of the ports would just be a passthrough allowing you to plug in another module while the other would actually power / take input from the numpad. Hell, given how much extra space that would provide, you could probably add more ports or maybe more than one module port so it acts as a splitter?

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I really like this idea, hereā€™s my input.

  1. for the sake of simplicity I would see this as being a module that wouldnā€™t need the locking mechanism of the ā€œconventionalā€ expansion cards. that way removal would be as simple as pulling it off without having to flip the laptop over.

  2. Numpad should be configurable to act as more than a numpad (think macros)

  3. maybe expansion slot. otherwise I would be fine with fixed ports like 2 USB A (or 1 USB A and 1 MicroSD) and an HDMI. really lean in to the office dock/productivity idea.

  4. EDIT I just had to double check pictures since I donā€™t have mine yet (Batch 4 cannot come soon enough) but I think this ā€œdockā€ should be right side only so it wouldnā€™t cover the only non-changeable port, the headphone jack (sorry crazy left hand numpad people!).

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Ooh to get extra fancy, it can have a screen under transparent buttonsā€¦ though that would make it too expensive. Maybe just keys you can popoff? So it defaults to a numpad, but you can fully customize what it does, inclduing how it looks? I mean, you can already customize what a numpad does with AutoHotKey so I donā€™t know if itā€™s worth it to build in more customization than that.

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I have a feeling Corsair (Elgato) wouldnā€™t like thisā€¦ theyā€™ve sued BIG names like Valve for copyright infringement (something about the Steam Controller idk).

Ethernet will work if you go back to a folded RJ45 connector where the latch part is a spring close to hold it, removing the size problem since the importance is the pin connection.
Like below.

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@nrp Any chance we can get a Intel chipset on that Ethernet port? Irying to avoid a broadcom and really trying to avoid a realtekā€¦

Understand that parts availability, price point, and form factor are all going to play a role.

Semi-joke suggestion:

The ā€œdouble-enderā€. A double-ended expansion card intended to join two framework laptops at the hip.

It would have different modes:

  • Hardware KVM switch mode. Whichever laptop is ā€œactiveā€ gets control of all peripherals of the other including screen, keyboard, other expansion cards, etc. so you can use it to get dual displays.

  • Software KVM switch mode (think synergy). Mouse can be moved from one screen to the other, files copied across, etc. but each laptop still controls its own hardware.

  • P2P mode. Simply networks the two laptops together.

You could also have a variation where theyā€™re connected by a flexible cable rather than fixed in place to allow the two laptops to be used independently (gameboy link cableā€¦).

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Ahh, great. Yes, the CCG3 would potentially let you simplify the design, since it has billboard integrated.

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Yup, much more simple.

Bumping for an optically isolated USB port. Piece of mind for those fiddling with breadboards, Arduino, and the like. Personally I havenā€™t fried a machine, but a friend in undergrad managed it. However, this is stupidly niche, but given the DIY aspects of Framework there is probably a fair intersection of those two groups to justify an attempt at it.

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Iā€™d love to have opto-isolated USB but the speed of them is around 10MB/s which is way too slow for type c and usb3.0 but about right for 2.0

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Yeah, opto-isolated ports would not be used for your extremely intensive data tasks. I was thinking of it as an extra layer of security for prototyping, hooking up to TCs, home built sensors, or what have you, while supporting USB-C PD as a wishlist item so you still have a good charging option

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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.
Iā€™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.




UT83_VoXYRaXXcUQpbXV

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Yubico partnership for an official YubiKey expansion card (or a container for existing YubiKeys).

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Iā€™m thinking a dock with 2 parts that use all 4 ports, increasing the height and increasing the number of expansion portsā€¦ 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 Iā€™ve seen re: people wanting HDMI in, Iā€™m almost certain this is electrically impossible, or at least wildly infeasible. Youā€™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, itā€™s not going to fit in something the size of 1-2 expansion cards, nor will it be particularly easy to use.