Название: KiCad 6 Like a Pro – Projects, Tips and Recipes: Mastering PCB design with real-world projects
Автор: Peter Dalmaris
Издательство: Elektor
Год: 2022
Страниц: 400
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf (true)
Размер: 46.2 MB

This book will help you practice your new KiCad 6 skills by challenging you in a series of two real-world projects, supported by a comprehensive set of recipes with detailed instructions on how to achieve a variety of simple and complex tasks.

Design the PCBs for an Arduino-powered datalogger and a custom ESP32 board. Understand the finer details of the interactive router and how to manage KiCad project teams with Git, and much more.

KiCad 6 is a modern, cross-platform application suite built around schematic and design editors. This stable and mature PCB tool is a perfect fit for electronic engineers and hobbyists. With KiCad 6, you can create PCBs of any complexity and size without the constraints associated with the commercial packages.

Here are the most significant improvements and features in KiCad 6, both over and under the hood:
• Modern user interface, completely redesigned from earlier versions
• Improved and customizable electrical and design rule checkers
• Theme editor allowing you to fully customize the look of KiCad on your screen
• Ability to import projects from Eagle, CADSTART, and more
• Enhanced bus handling
• Full control over the presentation of information by the layout editor: set the visibility, color, and attribute of any board element, and create presets
• Filters define which elements of a layout are selectable

The data logger is based on an Atmega 328P-AU microcontroller and is supported by two EEPROMs and a real-time clock. Additional components on the board, such as status LEDs with their supporting resistors, two crystal oscillators, connectors, and capacitors. You will use SMD packages for most components on a rectangular two-layer board with mounting holes on the four corners.

The project highlights are:
1. You will use Git to capture the history of the project's development.
2. You will design two versions of the PCB: one with two layers and one with four layers. Both will use data from the same schematic design.

KiCad, on its own, does not allow the creation of more than one layout for a schematic. Git makes this possible with the use of branches. This project will allow you to practice this aspect of Git-powered PCB design with KiCad.