kicad-fab-tools: circuit board orders, checked
Ordering a circuit board takes a stack of files and careful checking. kicad-fab-tools turns a KiCad design into an order and catches costly mistakes.
FirePod is built on a circuit board we design ourselves. Getting a board made means sending the factory a stack of files: the board layers, the drill holes, a parts list and a map of where every part goes. One wrong line, like a part that’s out of stock or a chip placed the wrong way round, can cost weeks.
We wrote tools to check all of that before an order goes out. Today we’re sharing them.
kicad-fab-tools
kicad-fab-tools works with KiCad, the free and open source circuit design software. One command turns a finished board into everything a manufacturer like JLCPCB needs, and stops if the design-rule check finds errors.
- Design check summary: runs KiCad’s design rule check and lists the problems that matter.
- Parts list check: makes sure every part on the board is in the parts list, and the other way round.
- Live stock and prices: checks that each part is in stock for the number of boards you’re ordering, and adds up what they’ll cost.
- Orientation fixes: remembers when a factory’s idea of “upright” differs from KiCad’s, so a part is only ever fixed once.
It’s free under the Apache 2.0 license.
View kicad-fab-tools on GitHub
More this month
Two more releases to go before Halloween. Keep an eye on GitHub, or sign up for updates.
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