Overview KiCad Design Workflow

Goal

A PCB is meant to be used in the real world, so it must be created with precision, an eye for detail, and care. It must:

  • be effective in what it is intended for
  • be safe to use
  • adhere to industry standards
  • adhere to manufacturer-specific standards

Development Procedure

KiCad is a collection of programs that each conduct one essential element of the development process. Roughly speaking, all these programs and the actions they support can be summarized into three major production steps.

STEP 1: Schematic design with EESchema

This step involves the drafting of a theoretical schematic electronics map of the circuit that will be implemented on the PCB board, with all its components and relevant electrical information laid out according to standard electronics symbolism. This is done with the Schematic Design Editor, named EESchema. One PCB board might require several schematics to display and explain various parts of the board. Before moving to STEP 2 an EESchema control tool, the Electrical Rule Check, is run to check whether the theoretical layout is laid out according to the rules of electronics, and would thus work in real circumstances, and would function as expected, and safely.

STEP 2: Layout design with PCBnew

Based on the theoretical schematic designed in STEP 1, a physical PCB layout is created with the Layout Design Editor, named PCBnew. This layout lays out the supporting material environment in which the circuit will reside. Also PCBnew has a built-in checker to detect faults, the Design Rule Check tool, to help make sure that the final product will be without errors.

STEP 3: Export for Production

In STEP 3 the Gerbers tool is used to export a Gerbers File. This file is written in a standard format that is universally used by PCB manufacturing production lines. The file contains all the necessary data for fabricating printed circuit boards. The Gerbers file will be sent to the PCB manufacturer of choice. They then, based on the file, produce a physical PCB board that accurately resembles our drafted design.

Footprint Associations

KiCad relies on footprint associations to translate the electronics schematic map symbols within the map, created in STEP 1, into the PCB layout footprints handled in STEP 2. Part of these associations are already available, but some may need to be customized by the user. Footprint associations translate electronic symbols to PCB footprints.