---

Hello,
I would like to see vias on the soldermask
How is it possible ?

Thanks

Alain

On Sunday 20 November 2005 06:54 am, Ian bell wrote:

[CLIP]

Either way we need to somehow traverse the data structures and

> generate the VRML (or other format) output. This traversal is of
> course already implemented in the 3D viewer and could be re-used.

[CLIP]

KiCAD uses the Wings3d lib for rendering right? Doesn't wings3d have VRML
export? Shouldn't this just be a function wings3D call to export to VRML? Or
is VRML export only available from the wings3D application?

--
Regards,

Mike Sharkey


Bradford, Ontario
CANADA

--- In kicad-users@..., "Tracy" <bas_tad@y...> wrote:

Hello Everyone

I have been reading the list for a few weeks, you all seem much more
advanced than me ;)

I have been building electronic projects for a long time, but have
not learned to use any PCB software (exept for PCBExpress ...) so
I'm not really familliar with the process. I used to build 'dead
bug' style but the new tiny components do not work well with that!

Is there a very basic 'getting started' tutorial or example I can
follow that is designed for a newbie like me? I know my project, my
components, and everything to do with it, but I'm totally green on
creating a schematic and pcb with any software at all.

Basically, I need to create a 'hello world' pcb ;)

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, I'm overwhelmed with the
large amount of data available for Kicad and PCB creation in general.

Thank you all in advance!
Tracy N4LGH

What we need is a Wiki :)
Can you do that on Yahoo?

Tracy

Making PCBs is a complex process as you say - I have only done it as a
hobbyist, but I have created a couple of double sided boards for
Surface mount chips which were commercially made.
There are some who appear to be professionals on the list who may be
able to advise. I am not familiar with the finer points for commercial
SM production etc

The process is

Create Schematic components (hopefuly there will be enough ready made
components in the libraries already)

Draw schematic - you will be familiar with these no doubt. Read the
help - it appears reasonably good. Try to create a copy of a simple
circuit you already have

Create netlist - this is a file with the names for all the "nodes" in
a circuit and the pins that are connected to each.

Associate "footprints" with each component. These are the PCB pattern
for each component, with pin numbers which correlate to the netlist.
Again there will be enough in the PCB library already with luck.
If not you will have to create a footprint for some components using
the module editor.

Create the PCB
In brief :
Import components and netlist
create outline/mechanical drawing of board
Place modules in best positions
Draw tracks - in theory this could be done by the computer
In practice some human intervention is usually needed (how good is
the autorouter in KICAD??)
Check layout against netlist using DRC (Design Rule Check) and
correct the (inevitable) errors

Tidy up - a million details - drill sizes, placement of text on
overlay, track widths etc etc
Create plot files for PCB house - these are generally in Gerber
format - I havent got to this stage yet with KICAD Gerber files can be
tricky - I dont know how good KICAD is

Hope this is a start

Richard

Hello Everyone

I have been reading the list for a few weeks, you all seem much more
advanced than me ;)

I have been building electronic projects for a long time, but have
not learned to use any PCB software (exept for PCBExpress ...) so
I'm not really familliar with the process. I used to build 'dead
bug' style but the new tiny components do not work well with that!

Is there a very basic 'getting started' tutorial or example I can
follow that is designed for a newbie like me? I know my project, my
components, and everything to do with it, but I'm totally green on
creating a schematic and pcb with any software at all.

Basically, I need to create a 'hello world' pcb ;)

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, I'm overwhelmed with the
large amount of data available for Kicad and PCB creation in general.

Thank you all in advance!
Tracy N4LGH

I am a new user to Kicad and am acclimating from Eagle. One feature
that I haven't discovered (if it exists) is a way to 'pan' or 'scroll'
the drawing via mouse; that is, apart from using the scroll bars. Is
this feature implemented? Else, it would be a nice feature to add in
future revision.

Thanks,

Dave

generalizt wrote:

--- In kicad-users@..., "generalizt" <erik.sundkvist@i...>
wrote:

Anyway, while working towards a complete embedded product, there is
always mechanics design to consider, and a nice feature would be to
export the 3D view of the populated PCB in a format that can be
imported into a 3D CAD package like SolidWorks or Pro-Engineer. For
this purpose I think a VRML export would do just fine. Since VRML is
already used for importing 3D models of components, and all the vertex
data is already present in the 3D view, exporting to VRML should be
quite quick to implement. Is anybody else having similar thoughts?

I have looked into the code to see how this could be done. I see a few
ways forward.
Either way we need to somehow traverse the data structures and
generate the VRML (or other format) output. This traversal is of
course already implemented in the 3D viewer and could be re-used.
A: One way to do this is to copy the code already in 3D viewer and
replace the calls to OpenGL with calls to generate the file output.
This has the drawback that we will have two separate pieces of code
that need to be maintained in parallel.
B: Another way is then of course to do the same thing but embed the
file output code in the existing code, and use an attribute to choose
between OpenGL and the file output. This could result in quite messy
code though.
C: Yet another way is to abstract the calls to OpenGL with an
additional layer that will choose between the original OpenGL calls
and the file output.

A forth way would be to abstract the traversal of the data structures and re-write the 3D code to use it and then data strucure traversal is available for all the other times in the future when we will undoubtedly need it.

Ian

--- In kicad-users@..., "generalizt" <erik.sundkvist@i...>
wrote:

Anyway, while working towards a complete embedded product, there is
always mechanics design to consider, and a nice feature would be to
export the 3D view of the populated PCB in a format that can be
imported into a 3D CAD package like SolidWorks or Pro-Engineer. For
this purpose I think a VRML export would do just fine. Since VRML is
already used for importing 3D models of components, and all the vertex
data is already present in the 3D view, exporting to VRML should be
quite quick to implement. Is anybody else having similar thoughts?

I have looked into the code to see how this could be done. I see a few
ways forward.

Either way we need to somehow traverse the data structures and
generate the VRML (or other format) output. This traversal is of
course already implemented in the 3D viewer and could be re-used.

A: One way to do this is to copy the code already in 3D viewer and
replace the calls to OpenGL with calls to generate the file output.
This has the drawback that we will have two separate pieces of code
that need to be maintained in parallel.

B: Another way is then of course to do the same thing but embed the
file output code in the existing code, and use an attribute to choose
between OpenGL and the file output. This could result in quite messy
code though.

C: Yet another way is to abstract the calls to OpenGL with an
additional layer that will choose between the original OpenGL calls
and the file output.

I would prefer the C solution because it is less intrusive, and in
fact, if we are lucky, much of the work is already done. I found an
interesting project (the OpenGL Grabber), which could be largely re-used:



The author of the OpenGL grabber chose to implement it as a DLL that
replaces the original OpenGL DLL on the Windows platform. This makes
it usable for any Windows application written for OpenGL, but the
mult-platform support does not exist. For Kicad I don't think this
approach is the best one, but rather the grabber could be
re-structured into a layer that is compiled into an application like
Kicad. There are probably some cross-platform issues to address, but
overall I think it looks like an interesting possibility.

If Jean-Pierre Charras or another active Kicad developer is on the
list, I would be interested in their thoughts on this topic.

Regards,
Erik Sundkvist

开云体育

--- In kicad-users@..., "oliverhosking"
<oliverhosking@y...> wrote:

I am a new user to KICAD, though I have used other PCB drafting
programs such as Protel Autotrax in the past. I have been waiting for
an OSS PCB program - I must say I am impressed so far.
Looking to do a board using the AD9951 DDS chip.
Has anyone got a PCB footprint for the TQFP/EP (SV-48) package?
If not I will do one - see how I go..

Thanks
Richard

I have just uploaded a footprint
Would be interested in any comments ?errors etc
I didnt have a 3D file to associate with this

Richard

I am a new user to KICAD, though I have used other PCB drafting
programs such as Protel Autotrax in the past. I have been waiting for
an OSS PCB program - I must say I am impressed so far.
Looking to do a board using the AD9951 DDS chip.
Has anyone got a PCB footprint for the TQFP/EP (SV-48) package?
If not I will do one - see how I go..

Thanks
Richard

Hello!

I am a new user of KiCad and the power and ease of use have surprised
me. Good, really before it was only using a pencil to draw circuits
and PCBs. :D

I see that the author of KiCad reads this list, so I am going to put
the errors that find here.
In "lib 74xx", component "74LS175" does not have correct pins "VCC"
and "GND". Would have to be "Electrical Type:" "Power In" and not
"Input".

I hope the future in contributing more with the project.

--

开云体育

Vic,

Try this link:



I will keep it on my server for a day or so and then delete it. It is about 50 MB.

Good Luck.

Phil Covington

开云体育

Vic Fraenckel wrote:

*Still having problems downloading Kicad. There appears to be a bottleneck somewhere in the route from my broadband server and the download site. This was confirmed by others. I don't know how to get around it. *
** *Since the downloads are so large I guess it is NOT possible to maintain a mirror of the current releases here in the files section.

The files section is only 20Mbytes so as you it is not possible to mirror it there

Is there any

other solution? I would like to try Kicad as it sounds great. *
**

I could download it and email it to you if your mail box will permit files that large.

Ian

I downloaded the software last night including the documentation with no issues. BTW, kudos to Phil for sharing the news of this software in another forum :) Thanks Phil.

Dave

At 07:15 AM 11/18/2005, you wrote:

Still having problems downloading Kicad. There appears to be a bottleneck somewhere in the route from my broadband server and the download site. This was confirmed by others. I don't know how to get around it.
?
Since the downloads are so large I guess it is NOT possible to maintain a mirror of the current releases here in the files section. Is there any other solution? I would like to try Kicad as it sounds great.
?
Anyone else having this sort of problem?
?
Vic
________________________________________________________
?
Victor Fraenckel - The Windman????????
victorf ATSIGN windreader DOT com
KC2GUI?????????????????????????????????????????????????
?


Please contribute your symbols and modules to the library folder in the group files section.



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AD5TU

Vic,

What version do you want (Linux, Windows...)? I can place it to a temporary location on my website so you can try to download it.

Phil N8VB

开云体育

Congratulations for the great Kicad !!
Something that may be a good adition is section and voltage properties
for the conections.
This may simplify the pcb design of high pot conections, making
automatically wider the tracks and the space between them and other
ones.
?What do you think?