KiCad
 KiCAD Project manager. | |
| Original author(s) | Jean-Pierre Charras |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Dick Hollenbeck[1] |
| Initial release | 1992[2] |
| Stable release | |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C++[2] |
| Operating system | FreeBSD, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X (experimental) |
| Available in | Multilingual (8) |
| Type | EDA |
| License | GNU GPL v2, GNU LGPL v2.1[3] |
| Website | http://kicad.sourceforge.net |
KiCad is an open source software suite for electronic design automation (EDA) - designing schematics of electronic circuits and printed circuit boards (PCB). KiCad is developed by Jean-Pierre Charras, and features an integrated environment with schematic capture, bill of materials list, and PCB layout.
Parts
KiCad software is organized in five main parts:
- kicad - the project manager.
- eeschema - the schematic capture editor.
- cvpcb - the footprint selector for components used in the circuit design.
- pcbnew - the PCB layout program. It also has 3D View.
- gerbview - the Gerber (photoplotter documents) viewer.
Features
Compared to the other free software alternatives, KiCad solves all stages with the same interface: Schematic Capture, PCB layout, Gerber generation/visualization and library editing.
KiCad is cross-platform, written with WxWidgets to run on FreeBSD, Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A lot of component libraries are available. Also migrating tools for components are available (from other EDA software tools). File formats are plain text and well documented, which is good for CVS or SVN and to make automated component generation scripts.
Multiple languages are supported, such as English, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech, Polish, French, German, and Russian.
The 3D PCB viewer use 3D model from Wings3D CAD.
KiCad has a basic built-in autorouter. It can also be combined with a java-based autorouter freeware called "Freerouter". In the latter case, a PCB design without tracks can be exported to Specctra DSN, which can be loaded into Freerouter. After finishing the autorouting the result can be saved as a Specctra session and be imported back into pcbnew.
See also
References
- ^ "KiCad in Launchpad". Retrieved 2011-01-20.
- ^ JP Charras said me that the first drafts were made in 1992 for a DOS version, but not diffused :-) , (kicad-users) Re: About kicad first release By Remy, 08 Jul 2007
- ^ "Sourceforge wiki". Retrieved 2011-05-22.
External links
- KiCad Home/international Wiki
- KiCad author's home page
- Quick start tutorial
- Symbol editor tutorial (english) Tutorial for the symbol editor of eeschema of kicad.
- Wings3D 3D editor for components
- Unofficial Kicad Wiki Usage Notes and more
- FreeRouter Java-based PCB autorouter
- Symbol Libraries
- Collection of KICAD Libraries
- Some free libraries for Kicad with 3D packages as well
- Online Library Component Builder
- Projects
- Small microcontroller in a 'Mystic' project
- Biting the KiCad bullet..., September 1, 2006, Open source Self-Copying machine Blog