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See PCB Design for design basics & guidelines. See Public:GitHub for setting up the files you're going to work with.

KiCad is the e-cad (electrical computer aided design) program we use exclusively since 2018. It is an open-source project and is constantly improving and growing in capabilities. It has many advantages for a distributed long-term student project including that it is free/open-source, has human readable files, and is scriptable with python. On this page you will find info on getting your KiCad Install Setup for use on Illini Solar Car.

If you have any trouble with this set-up you can get help on Slack Icon.pngelec-cad or speak to other electrical team members.


InfoIcon.png We use KiCad v8
We are currently using KiCad v8. Major versions of KiCad are not cross-compatible. Make sure you use a KiCad v8 production release. Nightly Releases are also not compatible with production releases.
Warning Icon.png Images may Differ
Minor versions of KiCad v8 have had many cosmetic updates, the images below may look a bit different than what you see.
Error Icon.png Use the Template for New Designs
You must start your projects from the KiCad v8 template or they will not be accepted! This can be found in the Dev folder of our PCB repo. If you have started without the template you should create a new project from the template and copy your board into that (Note: in KiCad v8 this is a simple ctrl+c, ctrl+v). You can ask for help with this on Slack Icon.pngelec-cad

First Time Setup

A video tutorial for downloading and setting up GitHub as well as cloning the PCB repository can be found in the first video of Rahul's KiCad tutorials playlist. The video goes over KiCad v5, but the installation process is very similar to v8.

Install and Run

  1. Download the latest 8.x.x version of KiCad for your operating system
    • Some OS's have special instuctions - follow them.
      • Note that KiCad has historically had stability issues on OSX / MacOS. If you have access to Windows or Linux those are recommended.
    • KiCad is available on many Linux package managers - make sure you do not get the nightly version.
    • Otherwise KiCad installs like any other program
  2. As you go through the install wizard you can use the default options
    • You can optionally deselect the Help article languages you don't want, as well as deselect the Demonstration projects, since we have completed projects for you to look at already
  3. Enjoy, and check this wiki as well as the KiCad help resources before asking about issues on Slack Icon.pngelec-cad

Library Setup

Note: This applies to KiCad v6, v7, and v8 projects on GitHub since Github Logo.png isc-hw-libs#84.This should cover most projects, and all new projects. But if you need to view older projects please update them following the instructions at Viewing KiCad v5 Projects

Our libraries, as well as KiCad's own schematic symbol libraries, our libraries are now back to their own repo. Make sure you've followed the GitHub directions in order to get those libraries on your machine. They are in the the seperate isc-hw-libs repo. If you first open a schematic in KiCad, without setting this up, you'll probably see a lot of question marks (?) all around the schematic. To fix this follow the below instructions.

To setup the Libraries in General we need to let KiCad know where they are! To prevent our set-up from Interfering with your outside usage of KiCad we use ISC specific Environment Variables.

  1. Open KiCad. Start these Instructions from the home screen
  2. Click on Preferences --> Configure Paths...
  3. Add a new path (press "Add") with the name ISC_SYMBOL_DIR and insert the path to the isc-hw-libs repo: PathOnYourComputer\isc-hw-libs
Your Environment Variable should look like this

This should be all you need! Our libraries are now managed using project specific libraries specified by the library tables in the project (provided with the template project)

Starting a Project

  1. Create a branch for your project in the PCB Repo (See GitHub/PCB for specific guidelines) git checkout -b <branch>
  2. Copy the latest template from the Dev Folder (make sure you git checkout master and git pullfirst) PathOnYourComputer\PCB/Dev/Template_v0.0 to the location where your project will live
  3. Rename your project following the naming conventions - you will need to rename the folder and every named file manually.
    • Do not rename the .kicad_wks file or others files not named for the template - otherwise your settings and/or libraries may not be set-up right
  4. Make an initial commit to the PCB Repo to create your branch on Github. (Use git push --set-upstream origin <branch> for the first push)

Now you are good to go working on your project! Make sure to follow the Schematic Conventions and Layout Standards.

Viewing Old Projects

Some projects you may want to view, such as previous board version, may be made with an older software. To view them you'll need to do a bit of work using the instructions linked below:

Old Library Set-up

General

  1. Click on Preferences --> Configure Paths...
  2. Change KICAD_SYMBOL_DIR (click on it and then "Edit") to the path of the Libraries folder
    • The Libraries folder should be <ISC folder>\isc-hw-libs

Schematic Symbols Assumes you have eeschema open

  1. If in Project window, otherwise go to next step. Click on Tools --> Edit Schematic Symbols...
    • If this is the first time you've run eeschema (or possibly after an update), it will ask you to "Configure Global Symbol Library Table". Stick with the default and click Ok
    • If you get a whole bunch of errors, then hold the ESC key until they're done. At least you know you're in the right place to fix those!
  2. Skip #1 to go here if you have a schematic open. Click on Preferences --> Manage Symbol Libraries...
    • Make sure you are on the Global Libraries tab of the popup box
  3. Select all (ctrl+A or cmd+A) the libraries that are there by default and remove them
  4. Then click on Browse Libraries... --> navigate to the folder called schematic in the isc-hw-libs repo --> select all --> Click ''Open''
    • These are the custom ones we've made for solar car parts.
    • Make sure you add these first; we override some of the default library symbols
  5. AGAIN click Browse Libraries... --> navigate to the folder called schematic_kicad in the Libraries folder --> select all --> Click Open

Layout Footprints Assumes you have Pcbnew open

  1. Click on Preferences --> Manage Footprint Libraries...
    • Make sure you are on the Global Libraries tab of the popup box
  2. Click Browse Libraries...
  3. Navigate to the isc-hw-libs repo
  4. Inside the isc-hw-libs repo is a folder called layout.pretty
    • KiCad uses the .pretty extension on folder names to delineate footprint libraries
  5. Select the layout.pretty folder and click OK
  6. In the list of libraries (probably at the bottom) you should now see one called "layout"
  7. Click OK again to exit the library manager


Bill of Materials

The Bill of Materials (BOM) is the list of parts you need in order to fully assemble the board. Since all this info is in KiCad, we just have to get it out in a format that is useful for what we are doing with it!

Before you begin, you need to make sure that all of your parts have the required information as specified in the Schematic Conventions.

Error Icon.png Our BOM Methods need improvement
Note that we don't have a great BOM system as of now. Currently, there is a lot of manual work to make sure to get it right. If you want to work on this, you can make this better with Python Scripts/Plugins and/or GitHub Actions!

The Tools -> Edit Symbol Fields table can act as a BOM Previewer within KiCad to view all of your parts and their info. You can also mass edit things (such as applying part numbers to a bunch of the same part)

See the Adding a BOM to PartsBox for our current workflow and KiCad/BOM page for info on how to export the BOM for different usages!

Export for Manufacturing

To manufacture your files you simply need to export the needed files. That is, the Gerber X2 Files for each relevant layer and the drill file for the board outline and holes (such as mounting). You will do this using KiCad Plot functionality.

  1. You can follow this tutorial to export the files for your board.
    • Make sure the drill file is exported in millimeters, not mils or inches. Otherwise the Bay Area Circuits DFM will round and possible fail your board due to rounding.
  2. Compress all of the files into a .zip file. This .zip is what will be sent to the manufacturer and what goes on Git. Do not upload the individual files. This .zip should be inside your project folder
  3. Once you have this .zip you can run the DFM report to make sure that passes
  4. When the Board Run is ready the DFM report and zip file will be sent in.
  5. For assembly you will also need the Bill of Materials (above) in Partsbox, Adding a BOM to PartsBox

Plugins

KiCad makes it really easy to integrate 3rd party plugins in KiCad. A plugin is essentially just a python script that you can run from inside KiCad so it has access to what you are currently working on. You can find KiCad plugins online from many sources to do all sorts of things. Additionally, we may also develop some of our own.

Installing Plugins is easy, just place the plugin files in their own folder in the KiCad Plugins folder. This differs by OS:

  • Windows: %APPDATA%\kicad\scripting\plugins
  • Linux: /usr/share/kicad/scripting/plugins/
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/kicad/scripting/plugins

If you have KiCad open you can add the Plugin by going to Tools -> External Plugins -> Refresh although some may need a full restart of KiCad

Some useful Plugins, we recommend that everyone install HTML BOM - install others as needed:

  • Interactive HTML BOM, useful for helping you while building a board. See KiCad/BOM for more info
  • RF Tools: Includes several tools, not only useful for RF, including Curved Traces, Track Length Matching, Via Fencing
  • Teardrops : makes teardrops into vias and/or pads which increases the inferface between the trace and the via/pad. Most useful to reduce mechanical/thermal strain and thus prevent cracking traces
  • Via Stitching and Circular Zones: Stitch together copper areas with vias more easily and create round copper zones

Useful Links

Shawn Hymel's Tutorials - videos for every step of PCB design and manufacture

KiCad's own website - videos, example PCBs, and textual tutorials can be found under "learning resources"

"Make Your First Board" - great tutorial for visual learners

Rahul's tutorial videos - Created during Electrical Onboarding 2020, great guide for getting started with the team

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design
Use these pages to help you design your board!
Setup
Brain2.jpg
Electrical Design
Selecting Parts
Board Design
Next
If you have more questions, post to Slack Icon.pngelec-cad
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