PCB design and 3D modeling with KiCad

What Will I Learn?

• You will learn how to design the printed circuit board with KiCad.
• You will learn 3D modeling of component materials.
• You will get to design the real life look of your printed circuit board.
• You will learn how to draw a flip-flop circuit.

Requirements

• Using KiCad
• To know basic electrics.
• Basic printed circuit information.

Difficulty

• Easy for those who understand electronics. :)

Tutorial Contents

In this tutorial, I explained how an electronic card was designed through kicad.First of all we will do a schematic drawing of the circuit. Then we will make a 3D model of our circuit board by switching to PCB. In this way, we will be able to get an idea of how our circuit board will look in real life.

Curriculum

Before the Utopian-io rules changed, I prepared a Turkish-language video about kicad at entry level. But I did not mention the topics in this tutorial.
You can access the content from the link below.
(This article is the continuation of the previous lesson.)
Lesson 1 ==> Click Here.
Lesson 2 ==> You're here.

Part 1: Creating a schematic drawing.

Click on '' place component ''.
Then add the necessary materials for the flip-flop circuit.

List of circuit elements :

• R1,R4 : 220Ω resistor (2 units)
• R2,23 : 47KΩ resistor(2 units)
• C1,C2 :10µf–16V capacitor (2 units)
• Q1,Q2: BC237 transistor (2 units)
• D1,D2: Red,Green LED(2 units)
• 01x02 size connector (1 unit)

Part 2 :Draw the circuit

Run CvPcb to associate components and footprint.
Then we will add footprints from the drop-down menu.

Part 3: Adding footprints

1- View selected footprint.
2- Click 3d display(alt +3).

Then select the appropriate model from the list on the right.
Ideal dimensions in flip-flop circuit;

• C1,C2 ==>Option 112= Capasitors_THT:CP_Radial_D4.0mm_P2.00mm
• D1,D2 ==> Option 38= LEDs:LED_D3.0mm
• Connector ==> Option 168 = Pin_Header_Straight_1x02_Pitch1.27mm
• Q1,Q2 ==> Option 9 = TO_SOT_Packages_THT:TO-92_Molded_Narrow
• R1,R2,R3,R4 ==> Option 67 =R_Axial_DIN0309_L9.00mm_D3.2mm_P15.24mm_Horizontal
  

1 - Save the edits.
2- Close.

1 - Generate netlist
2 - Click generate button
3- Save file

Perform the annotate process by following the steps in the photo.
Switch to the pcb design screen by clicking the 'run pcbnew' button in step 4.

Part 4 : Circuit Board Design

1 - Click "read netlist" button.
2 - Click "read current netlist" button.
3 - If you get an error, it will appear on this screen.
4 - Closed.
5 - All the parts on the circuit were added.

1 - Click "Mode footprint" button.
2 - Global spreat and place.
3 - Spread out all footprints.
4 - If the warning screen appears, click yes.
5 - As you saw on the right side of the photo, all the pieces were separated from each other.

• Move the circuit elements by pressing the "M" key.
• Rotate the circuit elements by pressing the "R" key.
• Place the circuit elements.
  

1 - Choose a green color from the menu. Because we will apply the circuit drawing to the bottom of the board.(choose red if you want to draw on top of the board.)
2 - Click the button labeled '' add tracks and vias '' to draw the path.
3- The circuit lines will look like this.

• It will look like this when you draw the circuit.
• Draw the red road to avoid intersection in some places.
  

Follow these steps to draw the boundaries of the card;
1 - Click "Add graphic line or polygon" button.
2 - Select ''Edge.Cuts".
3- The lines will look like this.
4- Press (ALT + 3) to switch to 3-D view.

Part 5 : 3D View

• You will get a 3D image of your card.
  

Activate options in the box for a more realistic image.

You can get 3d model output by clicking "File => Create Image (JPEG or PNG)".

---

Posted on Utopian.io - Rewarding Open Source Contributors

---