Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [kicad]

KiCad EDA is an open source (GPL) software package for the creation of electronic schematic diagrams and printed circuit board artwork.

KiCad links

KiCad homepage: https://www.kicad.org/
KiCad Documentation: https://docs.kicad.org/
User group: https://forum.kicad.info/

502 questions
39
votes
1 answer

KiCAD 5 --- what is the significance of the various GND symbols?

I'm new to KiCAD. I see symbols for GND, GNDA (analog), GNDD (digital), GNDPWR, GNDREF, etc. Is there any significance aside from "schematic documentation"? I was expecting that maybe the reason for the multiple symbols is that the PCB layout tool…
Cal-linux
  • 2,029
  • 2
  • 20
  • 37
38
votes
1 answer

KiCAD - Moving and rotating components with wires connected

I'm a major major noob to KiCAD and having done a couple of tuts in Eagle, I do like the separation of footprints from the schema. But one thing that took me by surprise is that the wire connections don't stay connected or become weird angled if I…
Plasty Grove
  • 591
  • 1
  • 5
  • 14
30
votes
2 answers

ERC error "ErrType(3): Pin connected to some others pins but no pin to drive it"

The following simple circuit gives the following error message when running ERC check: ErrType(3): Pin connected to some others pins but no pin to drive it @ (2.5000 ",4.0000 "): Cmp #PWR01, Pin 1 (power_in) not driven (Net 5) The CONN_2…
hlovdal
  • 999
  • 1
  • 13
  • 21
28
votes
1 answer

Can I make KiCAD pcbnew NOT place all components at (0,0)

In EAGLE, when you create a board from an existing schematic or incrementally add components to a linked board/schematic project, it does not overlap components in the board file. In KiCAD/Pcbnew I drew a schematic and created a board from it. Every…
HL-SDK
  • 2,539
  • 1
  • 19
  • 26
19
votes
3 answers

Save schematic from KiCad / EESchema to png

I've just drawn my first circuit with KiCad / EESchema (on Kubuntu) to insert my circuit diagram into one of my answers. But I can't find a way to export to PNG (nor gif or jpg). How can I export my schematic in such a way that I can easily upload…
jippie
  • 33,033
  • 16
  • 93
  • 160
17
votes
10 answers

No components 3D view in KiCAD

I'm just starting to work with KiCAD. One of the video tutorial shows that 3D view should incorporate components placed on the board: However in my case I can see only the board with pads: Looks like I need to tune up my KiCAD installation (I'm…
Roman Matveev
  • 2,942
  • 7
  • 32
  • 75
16
votes
4 answers

How can I improve this Ethernet differential pair?

This is my first 100 Mbit/s Ethernet project (I am doing it to learn more about differential signals). I did two things that I don't know if are good or bad in this particular case. One is to route under the signal transformer. It is only slightly…
Javier Loureiro
  • 923
  • 2
  • 12
  • 20
15
votes
3 answers

KiCad: Some pads to solder wires on

I am working on a PCB for which I need external soldered wires. I made the whole PCB with al the traces on the front layer. Then, with 3 vias, I got to the back layer. Here I need to solder 3 wires to the traces (green traces on picture). I used a…
jan
  • 153
  • 1
  • 1
  • 5
14
votes
1 answer

Signal bus in Kicad

I would like to know how does one design a signal bus in schematic in KiCad. I only worked in Eagle before and I cannot figure it out. E.g. - I have 5 digital signals going to another part of circuit and I want to connected them all to some other…
mrkva
  • 445
  • 1
  • 6
  • 14
14
votes
2 answers

How can I reuse sub-circuits in KiCad 5?

How can I implement a common sub-circuit which gets used in multiple places in a schematic with KiCAD 5, so that when only one instance gets edited all the other places it appears are automatically updated? Not by manually repeated…
Rob Kam
  • 1,305
  • 4
  • 19
  • 27
14
votes
1 answer

How do I determine the courtyard for a component footprint?

I'm using KiCad to lay out PCBs for some projects and often I find I need to develop a new footprint or tweak one that's in the library. I'm able to determine most things I need by consulting the datasheet and occasional other sources, but I haven't…
scanny
  • 7,062
  • 5
  • 47
  • 87
13
votes
1 answer

KiCAD vs gEDA vs other open source CAD?

I've been using Eagle for the past 10 years, but I recently started wondering about open sourced CAD tools, figuring if I'm mainly designing Open Source Hardware, might as well do it with an open source tools. I have a mac, and a windows machine, so…
DanyO
  • 149
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
13
votes
4 answers

Why kicad schematics pin electrical type is always power input?

I was designing new schematics and decided to inspect another library downloaded from kicad official sources on Github. The one thing that cought my eye instantly was that Electrical type for both GND and VCC was POWER INPUT. Is it meant to be that…
sitilge
  • 451
  • 2
  • 5
  • 15
13
votes
3 answers

KiCad : How can I create a footprint with thermal vias?

I have a SMD chip that gets pretty warm when operating and I want to try and design a footprint that allows more ventilation and extra copper to keep it in range. Does anyone know of a tutorial that covers how to make footprints (MOD files) with…
Bertus Kruger
  • 529
  • 3
  • 7
  • 19
12
votes
5 answers

Elliptical board edges in KiCAD or CircuitPro?

I am trying to use KiCAD to design a PCB which must fit into an existing case. One side of the PCB needs to be shaped as a specific elliptical arc segment. I can figure out the parameters of the desired ellipse, but I do not see how to actually draw…
Val Blant
  • 899
  • 8
  • 22
1
2 3
…
33 34