Merge pull request #10 from WMTaylor3/feature/hw-version-excluding-ba…

…ttery

Revision of hardware excluding external battery pack

PCB/README.md

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+# PCB
+
+## Versions
+There are two versions of the PCB in this repository. One which makes use of an external dashcam bettery such as the BlackVue B-130X and one which uses the vehicle battery directly. These are located in their respective subfolders. The project is built with the external battery version in mind as that's what I intend to use, however as it presents an additional financial barrier the PCB for the alternative version exists too.
+
+Please note that, while cheaper and smaller in overall form factor, the no-battery version has the potential to drain your vehicles battery and offers no low-voltage protection on its own.
+
+## Modifications
+The editable project files for each PCB is included within each subfolder under "Project Files". The PCBs were designed using the Standard Edition of [EasyEDA](https://easyeda.com). Other software exists such as the open source KiCad and the commercial software EAGLE.
+
+After giving each of these a try, I found EasyEDA had the softest learning curve for both myself and anyone wanting to make modifications, as well as the virtue of offering an in-browser editor thereby making it even more accessible.
+
+Either way, feel free to import and modify using a software of your preferance and (as always) consider contributing back any improvements you may come up with.
+
+## Ordering
+Included in each of the PCB directories is a Gerber file which may be used to order prints of the PCBs from providers such as JLCPCB and PCBWay. It's a fairly standard format and should be accepted by most PCB printing providers.

PCB/With External Battery/README.md

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+# PCB Revision for Use with External Accessory Battery
+
+## Overview
+This version of the PCB is intended for use with an external battery bank such as the BlackVue B-130X.
+Using an external battery provides the advantage of ensuring that there is no circumstance in which this project will drain your cars 12V battery.
+It also handles the regulation/supply of the 5V rail used to power the Arduino, relay and optional USB accessory.
+However it comes at an additional financial cost.
+
+In this configuration, the battery bank is charged from the alternator while the cars engine is on as well as passing through power to the dash-cam and (if integrated) tracker and 5V USB accessory.
+When the car is stopped, the battery continues to provide constant 12V power to the tracking unit (if integrated), as well as switched 12V and 5V power to the dash-cam and optional USB device respectively.
+There is no path for the accessories to pull from the car battery when the vehicle is parked.
+
+## Substitutions
+While the B-130X is the battery that was in mind during this boards development, theoretically any battery bank will work provided it supports:
+* Charging at car alternator voltage.
+* Constant output of 12V.
+* Constant output of 5V.
+* Output of 12V switched with car accessory state.
+  * Note: In theory, it might be possible to use a battery bank without accessory 12V output simply by wiring the appropriate pin on the battery bank header directly to the cars 12V accessory rail.\
+    *Presumably* this is how the B-130X handles it internally, by just passing through the 12V accessory input. I haven't tested this, however, and so I cannot guarantee that it is the case.\
+    The use case for this accessory output is that it gets supplied to the dash-cam to help it determine whether to enter parking mode or not. Without it, the dash-cam remains in 24/7 video recording mode.\
+    It is *also possible* that the output from the B-130X accessory output is NOT a basic pass-through of the cars 12V accessory rail. It is possibly regulated down from 14.4V to a nice clean voltage, or otherwise conditioned.\
+    As I was unsure whether any additional "Magic" took place on the B-130X's accessory output, and the factory installation manual recommends wiring the dash-cams 12V accessory line to the B-130X rather than the cars accessory rail, I opted to play it safe and treat the two accessory rails (car and B-130X) as separate, isolated lines.\
+    Feel free to short them together at your own peril, but be aware that this means you'll be supplying your dash-cam with constant power by way of a nicely regulated 12V lithium battery source and accessory power by way of a less regulated 10-15V automotive lead acid battery source.

PCB/Without External Battery/README.md

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+# PCB Revision for Use Without External Accessory Battery
+
+## Overview
+This version of the PCB is intended for use without an external battery bank, instead drawing the power needed for the accessory devices directly from the car battery itself.
+Using an external battery would provide the advantage of ensuring that there would be no circumstance in which these devices could drain your car battery.
+The external battery would also handle supply of the 5V rail used to power the Arduino, relay and optional USB accessory. In this edition, that requirement is handled by way of a buck converter module.
+This implementation is cheaper, as it doesn't require the additional cost of a dashcam battery bank.
+Furthermore, despite the PCB being larger to accomodate the voltage converter, the overall installation footprint will be smaller as there is no space required for the external battery.
+Most dashcams have a low voltage cut-off which should prevent them from entirely draining your car battery using this PCB revision, however the same cannot be said for the tracking module or the 5V accessory device (such as a 4G WiFi dongle) should you chose to use either such device.

README.md

@@ -95,12 +95,12 @@ All the code for this project is written in Arduino code for the ESP32 and uploa
 
 Sensitive information such as Wi-Fi names and password etc are all stored in a secrets file `arduino_secrets.h`. This hasn't been uploaded for obvious reasons, but a sample file is present to show the formatting. Update as needed and remove the `-sample` suffix.
 
-## PCB Modifications
-The PCB was designed using the Standard Edition of [EasyEDA](https://easyeda.com). Other software exists such as the open source KiCad and the commercial software EAGLE.
-
-After giving each of these a try, I found EasyEDA had the softest learning curve for both myself and anyone wanting to make modifications, as well as the virtue of offering an in-browser editor thereby making it even more accessible.
-
-Either way, feel free to import and modify using a software of your preferance and (as always) consider contributing back any improvements you may come up with.
+## Development
+If you want to modify or contribute to the project, this is the place to start.
+* [PCB](PCB) - for anything related to the PDB board itself, or its component list.
+* [Code](Code) - for anything related to the Arduino code running on the ESP32.
+* [Installation](Installation) - for anything related to the installation of the finished product.
+* [Consumer](CONSUMER.md) - for use of the installed product.
 
 ## Vehicle Installation
 TODO