Reported by Hackster.io News on 2026-10-08. Summarized and analyzed by XAIPART Editorial.
What happened
Maker Anas Malas has built a USB-PD trigger device called the Negotiator II, described as roughly the size and thickness of a business card.S1 The card negotiates with a USB-C charger or power bank under USB Power Delivery 3.1 and exposes fixed and programmable PD modes for bench use.S1 An LED capability bar indicates which source voltages are available from 5 V up to 48 V, after which onboard buttons step the requested voltage in 0.1 V increments.S1
Output current is listed at up to 5 A, with the article noting the practical ceiling is set by the charger, cable, voltage, and PD mode in use.S1 Separate on-card readouts give live voltage, current, and power, and mode indicators distinguish PDO, PPS, SAVS, and EAVS operation; an automatic mode picks the highest-current option at the selected voltage.S1 A second USB port exposes a browser-based console for charger telemetry, live graphs, diagnostics, and firmware updates, with banana-plug, crocodile-clip, and friction-fit 0.1-inch headers for output, plus a custom "Wire Wedge" terminal.S1
The hardware is a 0.8 mm four-layer PCB carrying roughly 200 LEDs and measuring about 2 mm thick overall.S1 To drive the LED bar from a 48 V rail without a bulky buck converter, Malas used 0402 LEDs rated at 10 mcd and under 0.2 mA each, fed by an LDO with firmware that dims the display on demand for thermal control.S1 Short-circuit protection between the 48 V VBUS line and the adjacent USB-C CC pins is handled with depletion-mode N-channel MOSFETs that cut off the CC path during a fault; the author reports the board survives deliberate 48 V-to-CC shorts and continues negotiating afterward.S1
| Metric | Reported value |
|---|---|
| USB PD spec | USB Power Delivery 3.1 |
| Voltage range | 5 V to 48 V |
| Voltage step | 0.1 V |
| Max output current | up to 5 A (source-dependent) |
| PCB stack-up / thickness | 4-layer, 0.8 mm |
| Assembled card thickness | about 2 mm |
| Onboard LEDs | roughly 200 |
| LED rating | 0402, 10 mcd, under 0.2 mA each |
| BoM cost (100 qty) | about $8 per ENIG board |
Background timeline
- No prior milestones disclosed by the source.
XAIPART take
Technical impact
The Negotiator II sits in the same category as commercial USB-PD decoy modules (e.g., the CH224K, FUSB302-based triggers, and the AVS-aware offerings from the same hobbyist ecosystem), but it is unusual in surfacing PPS, SAVS, and EAVS mode status through dedicated indicators and pairing that with a 48 V ceiling. XAIPART analysis Hardware designers evaluating the design should treat the published 5 A as the charger-side envelope, not the board-side: the 0402 LEDs and the chosen VBUS-to-CC protection scheme are clever cost moves, but routing 5 A on a 0.8 mm four-layer PCB with 0402 components still demands careful cable and connector selection. XAIPART analysis
Market impact
For sourcing and lab operations, the article's $8 unit cost at 100 quantity and the fact that it turns an existing USB-C charger into an adjustable supply could displace a small slice of low-end bench PSU demand for prototype labs, education, and field service. XAIPART analysis Procurement teams should note that no retail channel, distributor part number, or lead time is given; the article states Malas plans to open-source the design but does not confirm availability today. XAIPART analysis Until a public release, this is best tracked as a reference design rather than a procurement item.
Action
Bookmark the source article and watch for the open-source release if you want a reference PD3.1 trigger; in the meantime, verify any 48 V / 5 A path on existing lab supplies against your cable and connector ratings rather than assuming a USB-C brick will deliver that combination safely. XAIPART analysis For immediate procurement, stay on established USB-PD trigger ICs and finished modules with published datasheets and traceable supply. XAIPART analysis
XAIPART Forecast
XAIPART expects that within 9 months of the article date (by 2027-07-08), if the Negotiator II design files are released as planned, completed-module listings on at least one hobbyist marketplace (Tindie, GroupGets, or Crowd Supply) will appear with a published single-unit price below $50 USD; if no such listing exists at or below $50 by that date, this forecast is wrong. XAIPART analysis
Facts are as reported by the cited source. The design-in, sourcing and forward-looking statements above are XAIPART's analysis, not the source's claims. Uncertainty: the article is a single hackster.io write-up; no independent confirmation of measured efficiency, thermal behavior, or sustained 5 A capability has been cited, and the planned open-source release date is not disclosed.
Corrections: none at publication. This brief will be updated with a timestamp if the source corrects its report.
Các lựa chọn và chu kỳ sống
| Phần | Quan hệ | Chu kỳ sống | Cơ sở |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Không có tùy chọn nào trong tệp CẦN DỮ LIỆU | — | Yêu cầu match_type trước khi bất kỳ nhãn tiền thân nào có thể xuất hiện |
“Tiền thân” và các nhãn thay thế chỉ đến từ một loại khớp đã được ghi lại, trạng thái chu kỳ sống hoặc văn bản nguồn. Khi không có khớp nào được ghi lại, không có nhãn nào được hiển thị. Các danh sách của chúng tôi không phải là một tham chiếu thị trường.
Điều gì cần xem
| Đề xuất | Cấp độ | Bởi | Trạng thái |
|---|---|---|---|
| XAIPART expects that within 9 months of the article date (by 2027-07-08), if the Negotiator II design files are released as planned, completed-module listings on at least one hobbyist marketplace (Tindie, GroupGets, o... | no such listing exists at or below $50 by that date | Pending |
Các dự báo sai vẫn được giữ hiển thị và đánh dấu. Chúng tôi không xóa chúng.
Các phần bị ảnh hưởng
Không có khớp catalog. Câu chuyện này không khớp với bất kỳ linh kiện nào được liệt kê trên XAIPART hiện tại. Chúng tôi không suy luận khớp và chúng tôi không hiển thị danh sách chờ.
Áp lực chi phí theo chiều
| Dimension | FRED series ID | Unit | Lag | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input cost | PCOPPUSDM, PALUMUSDM, PNICKUSDM | USD/mt | 52 d | |
| Supply/demand | PCU334413334413, IPG3344S | index(1982=100) / index(2017=100) | 46 d | |
| FX & energy | DEXCHUS, DCOILBRENTEU, DHHNGSP | rate / USD/bbl / USD/MMBtu | 5 d |
No free authoritative interface for: gold · silver · rare earth · polysilicon · lithium carbonate · market share — listed rather than approximated.
Cách sản xuất điều này
Xử lý chứng cứ — thu thập, nguồn xác thực, mô hình và cửa
| Source fetched | Hackster.io News · www.hackster.io · 3,014 chars · fetch status success |
|---|---|
| Source sanity (S1) | ok — passed before any model call (no s1_ block recorded) |
| Model / prompt | MiniMax-M3 · prompt Blog Agent - News Summary (v2.8-final) · 6,816 tokens · 26.9s · run completed |
| Gate | verdict pass · 6/6 applicable checks passed · spec v2.9 · C10 ratio 0.015813 · C10 rounds 0 |
Mỗi hàng trên đều được sản xuất bởi pipeline, không phải viết bằng tay.
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