Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

In life, every so often one hears of a concept that is so simple and so elegant that the fact that one had not heard of it before today makes one’s jaw drop in disbelief:

> Reversible USB-A. Well this maybe wasn't the most critical feature anyone expected, but, consequence of our new PCB & case combined construction, it was easy to make USB-A reversible. So why not!



I'm more impressed by the cavity PCB construction--fill with epoxy and boom dead simple waterproofing! I've never encountered this before; wonder if it's available with the batch fabs.


Pretty common in ruggedized devices. Has the benefit of keeping components stuck down under vibration and tamper evident too.


The technique is called "potting", and is common for small rugged devices. I think nearly all assembly houses will offer it. Some electronics components, such as relays, power converter modules also use it.


The difficult part is the step milling for the cavity. Its unusual so you need to work with the fab to get it right. Bunny Huang had a good post about it.


USB remains the only connector I use where I routinely get the orientation wrong 3 times.


This is a good discussion of how it works: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/209941/two-s...




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: