6 ms·

KiCad 6.0.0

143 points by hasheddan 5y ago

robarr 5y ago
A Cross Platform and Open Source Electronics Design Automation Suite https://www.kicad.org/ https://www.kicad.org/
sokoloff 5y ago
The blog entry noting the tagging of 6.0 RC1 and some of the highlights of what's in it might be more communicative than just the github tree. https://www.kicad.org/blog/2021/12/Development-Highlight-Third-Party-Content-Improvements/ https://www.kicad.org/blog/2021/12/Development-Highlight-Thi...
- zem 5y ago
  thanks, that is indeed more informative, especially since i couldn't find a changelog in the sources.
  - craftyjon 5y ago
    The 6.0 release hasn't been made officially yet (the source code tagging is just the first step in that process). There will be an announcement and changelog once it happens.
- mgsouth 5y ago
  This blog entry shows a couple of last-minute changes, but I haven't found any release notes yet. However, here is a list of development hightlights blog posts [0] and the 6.0.0-rc1 milestone page [1]. [0] https://www.kicad.org/blog/categories/Development-Highlight/ https://www.kicad.org/blog/categories/Development-Highlight/ [1] https://gitlab.com/groups/kicad/libraries/-/milestones/1#tab-issues https://gitlab.com/groups/kicad/libraries/-/milestones/1#tab...
elihu 5y ago
I just installed rc2 the other day, and was happy to see that I can import SVG files to the copper layer now in the pcb editor. (I have a kicad project I haven't worked on in a few years so I don't know when they made that change, but it's nice to see it works now.)
- Ccecil 5y ago
  I believe that is new in 6.0. IIRC...one of the reasons I started using 5.99 nightly was because it had that feature.
paulryanrogers 5y ago
Do any professionals here use it? I did some AutoCAD in high school and tried this years ago. It felt competent and less crashy than late 90s AutoCAD, but a little more awkward.
- R0b0t1 5y ago
  Yes. Not suitable for very high density designs yet, like a motherboard. But you can layout high-speed differential designs with more effort than, say, Altium. But these tools with good auto-routing are very expensive.
- Findecanor 5y ago
  KiCAD is and "EDA tool" for designing electronic circuits and circuit boards. I'd recommend QCad for pure 2D CAD otherwise. I like it and use it a lot. I've never tried classic AutoCAD but I've been told that they are similar.
- bcantrill 5y ago
  We are using it for essentially all of our prototype boards here at Oxide (low complexity, low layer count) -- and keeping a very close eye on it for our larger boards, where we still suffer from proprietary software. (And to be clear, when I say "suffer", I don't mean the mere principle but the true pathologies of proprietary software: license servers dying; licenses expiring incorrectly; software dying, costing lost work; formats being proprietary; etc. etc., all of which we saw over the course of building our boards.) We've been waiting for KiCAD 6 for a while, and while it's not yet to the point that we can use it for everything, it's definitely on the right trajectory!
  - e-_pusher 5y ago
    If you don’t mind me asking, what EDA tool are you guys using at the moment at Oxide for your motherboards?
    - bcantrill 5y ago
      Sorry, missed this question! We are (like many/most?) using OrCAD for schematic capture and Allegro for layout -- which is to say, Cadence and Cadence.
suyash 5y ago
wonderful piece of open source software for hardware engineering, congrats!
nikitaga 5y ago
As much as I love open source... I tried using KiCAD to design a PCB and have it assembled, but ultimately switched to EasyEDA – not because their app is better (it really isn't), but because of their smooth integrations. EasyEDA is connected to a huge library of components (LCSC.com) with footprints and 3D shapes and everything, and built-in integration with their manufacturing service (JLCPCB.com) which uses those same LCSC components. I'm sure you can design your PCB with KiCAD and have the result manufactured and assembled with JLCPCB, but having looked at the tutorials to make that happen, it's not a smooth process at all. I know little about these apps to suggest a solution, but making that easier / smoother / more obvious would go a long way to help hobbyists like me. Now with KiCAD 6 there is a new plugin https://github.com/Bouni/kicad-jlcpcb-tools https://github.com/Bouni/kicad-jlcpcb-tools but I haven't used it yet. Eventually when it matures it will probably save a lot of annoyance.
- meatmanek 5y ago
  Generating gerber and drill files for manufacturing is pretty straightforward in Kicad, but getting boards assembled with JLCPCB is a lot more annoying --- you need to associate LCSC (JLCPCB's supplier/sister company) part numbers with each component, and generate pick and place files. And inevitably you won't be able to get certain components from JLCPCB so you'll end up buying those separately and hand-soldering them anyway, so it can feel like it isn't worth all the hassle. For simple one-off boards it's easiest to do that association in the JLCPCB order flow instead of in Kicad. I agree, it's a lot less slick than the EasyEDA/JLCPCB integration, so for people just getting started with PCB design I would definitely recommend EasyEDA over Kicad.
  - stavros 5y ago
    If they save me ten resistors/caps per board, that's already worth it.
- stavros 5y ago
  Here's my KiBot config: https://gitlab.com/stavros/esp32-cnc/-/blob/master/project.kibot.yaml https://gitlab.com/stavros/esp32-cnc/-/blob/master/project.k... It will automatically check your design and generate Gerbers and drill files for you. It will also generate a JLCPCB-compatible BOM that you can upload. All you need to do is add a field on each part called "JLC" in eeschema containing the LCSC part number.
fpgaminer 5y ago
I recently learned KiCad and did some basic boards with it. It was a breeze; didn't run into any crashes, bugs, or major difficulties. I learned Eagle a few years ago, and from my vague memory I remember Eagle being a bit less obvious to use. KiCad felt straightforward in every way except maybe drawing the board cuts. (I did run into one paper cut. The PCB DRC didn't flag unconnected nets; there's a second button next to Run DRC that checks for unconnected nets. :/ Cost me an hour wondering why my 5V rail wasn't working... ) Was also my first time using one of those cheap, small-run assembly houses. Absolutely incredible. My project was a tweak of an existing product (an RGB LED driver), and I was able to get my boards made and assembled for less than the retail product, even at a volume of 5 and with nicer parts. Crazy. For anyone looking to learn KiCad, I used this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7-8nUU6e3E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7-8nUU6e3E
- fortysixdegrees 5y ago
  What assembly house did you use?
  - stavros 5y ago
    I use JLCPCB for mine and am extremely satisfied.
  - fpgaminer 5y ago
    JLCPCB; turn time has been about a week and then a few days for DHL to drop it at my door. Their website is very buggy, and the placement preview is useless, but they do have a real engineer review everything before assembly so all my boards have been assembled correctly thus far. They even caught one of my mistakes before. I recommend finding parts using LCSC's website (their parts supplier), as it has more useful parametric search. Then cross reference to JLC's to double check pricing and availability.
    - fortysixdegrees 5y ago
      Interesting. I'm flirting with the idea of ordering boards with all the easy to get discretes on there then finishing by baking on the hard to get chips I have in stock with lower temp solder paste. I would need to cut out the parts of the solder mask with components on there, or maybe I can do that at the Gerber phase
mastax 5y ago
Yay! I've been watching the Kicad 6 burn down chart for a while, this is faster than I expected - looks like a lot of stuff got postponed?
e-_pusher 5y ago
Congrats to the KiCad Team! KiCad 6 is a huge leap from 5.x. For anyone curious, here is a good review of improvements in KiCad 6 : https://techexplorations.com/blog/kicad/kicad-6-review-new-and-improved-features/ https://techexplorations.com/blog/kicad/kicad-6-review-new-a...

143 points by hasheddan 5y ago

A Cross Platform and Open Source Electronics Design Automation Suite https://www.kicad.org/ https://www.kicad.org/

The blog entry noting the tagging of 6.0 RC1 and some of the highlights of what's in it might be more communicative than just the github tree. https://www.kicad.org/blog/2021/12/Development-Highlight-Third-Party-Content-Improvements/ https://www.kicad.org/blog/2021/12/Development-Highlight-Thi...

zem 5y ago
thanks, that is indeed more informative, especially since i couldn't find a changelog in the sources.
- craftyjon 5y ago
  The 6.0 release hasn't been made officially yet (the source code tagging is just the first step in that process). There will be an announcement and changelog once it happens.
mgsouth 5y ago
This blog entry shows a couple of last-minute changes, but I haven't found any release notes yet. However, here is a list of development hightlights blog posts [0] and the 6.0.0-rc1 milestone page [1]. [0] https://www.kicad.org/blog/categories/Development-Highlight/ https://www.kicad.org/blog/categories/Development-Highlight/ [1] https://gitlab.com/groups/kicad/libraries/-/milestones/1#tab-issues https://gitlab.com/groups/kicad/libraries/-/milestones/1#tab...

elihu 5y ago

I just installed rc2 the other day, and was happy to see that I can import SVG files to the copper layer now in the pcb editor. (I have a kicad project I haven't worked on in a few years so I don't know when they made that change, but it's nice to see it works now.)

Ccecil 5y ago
I believe that is new in 6.0. IIRC...one of the reasons I started using 5.99 nightly was because it had that feature.

paulryanrogers 5y ago

Do any professionals here use it? I did some AutoCAD in high school and tried this years ago. It felt competent and less crashy than late 90s AutoCAD, but a little more awkward.

R0b0t1 5y ago
Yes. Not suitable for very high density designs yet, like a motherboard. But you can layout high-speed differential designs with more effort than, say, Altium. But these tools with good auto-routing are very expensive.
Findecanor 5y ago
KiCAD is and "EDA tool" for designing electronic circuits and circuit boards. I'd recommend QCad for pure 2D CAD otherwise. I like it and use it a lot. I've never tried classic AutoCAD but I've been told that they are similar.
bcantrill 5y ago
We are using it for essentially all of our prototype boards here at Oxide (low complexity, low layer count) -- and keeping a very close eye on it for our larger boards, where we still suffer from proprietary software. (And to be clear, when I say "suffer", I don't mean the mere principle but the true pathologies of proprietary software: license servers dying; licenses expiring incorrectly; software dying, costing lost work; formats being proprietary; etc. etc., all of which we saw over the course of building our boards.) We've been waiting for KiCAD 6 for a while, and while it's not yet to the point that we can use it for everything, it's definitely on the right trajectory!
- e-_pusher 5y ago
  If you don’t mind me asking, what EDA tool are you guys using at the moment at Oxide for your motherboards?
  - bcantrill 5y ago
    Sorry, missed this question! We are (like many/most?) using OrCAD for schematic capture and Allegro for layout -- which is to say, Cadence and Cadence.

suyash 5y ago

wonderful piece of open source software for hardware engineering, congrats!

nikitaga 5y ago

As much as I love open source... I tried using KiCAD to design a PCB and have it assembled, but ultimately switched to EasyEDA – not because their app is better (it really isn't), but because of their smooth integrations. EasyEDA is connected to a huge library of components (LCSC.com) with footprints and 3D shapes and everything, and built-in integration with their manufacturing service (JLCPCB.com) which uses those same LCSC components. I'm sure you can design your PCB with KiCAD and have the result manufactured and assembled with JLCPCB, but having looked at the tutorials to make that happen, it's not a smooth process at all. I know little about these apps to suggest a solution, but making that easier / smoother / more obvious would go a long way to help hobbyists like me. Now with KiCAD 6 there is a new plugin https://github.com/Bouni/kicad-jlcpcb-tools https://github.com/Bouni/kicad-jlcpcb-tools but I haven't used it yet. Eventually when it matures it will probably save a lot of annoyance.

meatmanek 5y ago
Generating gerber and drill files for manufacturing is pretty straightforward in Kicad, but getting boards assembled with JLCPCB is a lot more annoying --- you need to associate LCSC (JLCPCB's supplier/sister company) part numbers with each component, and generate pick and place files. And inevitably you won't be able to get certain components from JLCPCB so you'll end up buying those separately and hand-soldering them anyway, so it can feel like it isn't worth all the hassle. For simple one-off boards it's easiest to do that association in the JLCPCB order flow instead of in Kicad. I agree, it's a lot less slick than the EasyEDA/JLCPCB integration, so for people just getting started with PCB design I would definitely recommend EasyEDA over Kicad.
- stavros 5y ago
  If they save me ten resistors/caps per board, that's already worth it.
stavros 5y ago
Here's my KiBot config: https://gitlab.com/stavros/esp32-cnc/-/blob/master/project.kibot.yaml https://gitlab.com/stavros/esp32-cnc/-/blob/master/project.k... It will automatically check your design and generate Gerbers and drill files for you. It will also generate a JLCPCB-compatible BOM that you can upload. All you need to do is add a field on each part called "JLC" in eeschema containing the LCSC part number.

fpgaminer 5y ago

I recently learned KiCad and did some basic boards with it. It was a breeze; didn't run into any crashes, bugs, or major difficulties. I learned Eagle a few years ago, and from my vague memory I remember Eagle being a bit less obvious to use. KiCad felt straightforward in every way except maybe drawing the board cuts. (I did run into one paper cut. The PCB DRC didn't flag unconnected nets; there's a second button next to Run DRC that checks for unconnected nets. :/ Cost me an hour wondering why my 5V rail wasn't working... ) Was also my first time using one of those cheap, small-run assembly houses. Absolutely incredible. My project was a tweak of an existing product (an RGB LED driver), and I was able to get my boards made and assembled for less than the retail product, even at a volume of 5 and with nicer parts. Crazy. For anyone looking to learn KiCad, I used this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7-8nUU6e3E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7-8nUU6e3E

fortysixdegrees 5y ago
What assembly house did you use?
- stavros 5y ago
  I use JLCPCB for mine and am extremely satisfied.
- fpgaminer 5y ago
  JLCPCB; turn time has been about a week and then a few days for DHL to drop it at my door. Their website is very buggy, and the placement preview is useless, but they do have a real engineer review everything before assembly so all my boards have been assembled correctly thus far. They even caught one of my mistakes before. I recommend finding parts using LCSC's website (their parts supplier), as it has more useful parametric search. Then cross reference to JLC's to double check pricing and availability.
  - fortysixdegrees 5y ago
    Interesting. I'm flirting with the idea of ordering boards with all the easy to get discretes on there then finishing by baking on the hard to get chips I have in stock with lower temp solder paste. I would need to cut out the parts of the solder mask with components on there, or maybe I can do that at the Gerber phase

mastax 5y ago

Yay! I've been watching the Kicad 6 burn down chart for a while, this is faster than I expected - looks like a lot of stuff got postponed?

e-_pusher 5y ago

Congrats to the KiCad Team! KiCad 6 is a huge leap from 5.x. For anyone curious, here is a good review of improvements in KiCad 6 : https://techexplorations.com/blog/kicad/kicad-6-review-new-and-improved-features/ https://techexplorations.com/blog/kicad/kicad-6-review-new-a...