CERN BE-CO-HT Contribution to KiCad
This project has been set up to facilitate the contribution of CERN's
BE-CO-HT section to the KiCad Printed
Circuit Board design tool development. KiCad is a Free/Libre Open Source
Software Tool which runs on GNU/Linux, Windows and Apple OS X. It is
licensed under the GPL
license.
The objective of this project is to help enhance KiCad in such a way
that it becomes an efficient tool for PCB design which people can use to
share their design information without compromising productivity. We do
this in close collaboration with the main KiCad developers.
We think that KiCad can do to PCB design what the gcc compiler did to software: ensure there are no artificial barriers to sharing so that design and development knowledge can flow more freely.*
This contribution is part of our efforts in Open Source Hardware. We describe our planned tasks and their progress using a list of work packages. Contributions to KiCad will happen through the KiCad developers mailing list, in the standard ways defined by the main KiCad developers. If you are a student and would like to help us, have a look at the student projects page.
KiCad PCB layout snapshot*
Detailed project information
- Official KiCad website
- KiCad Developer's road map
- Work packages
- Projects for students
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Publications
- The Amp Hour (starting at minute 12) Chris Gammell and Dave Jones briefly discuss CERN's developments for KiCad (Dec.2013)
- KiCad: CERN's Contribution to Free/Open PCB Design, EETimes (Nov.2013)
- EEVblog Electronics Community Forum - CERN's contribution to KiCAD (Oct.2013)
- CERN supports KiCad development Dangerous Prototypes (Apr.2013)
- KiCad's got a new interactive router! (June 2014)
- CERN Shows Off New KiCad Module Editor (July 2014)
- Videos from CERN
- KiCad push-and-shove routing Youtube (Sept.2013)
- KiCad Interactive Router - release version (May 2014)
- KiCad Module Editor upgrade (June 2014)
Donations
Please visit the CERN and Society donations page if you would like to help us contribute more and faster.
Contacts
- Javier Serrano. Project leader. See also the Frequently Asked Questions.
- Maciej Sumiński. Developer.
- Tomasz Włostowski. Developer.
Status
| Date | Event |
| 11-04-2013 | Project announced in the KiCad developers mailing list. |
| 11-04-2013 | Maciej Sumiński submits a preliminary version of the View component to the KiCad developers list. |
| 09-07-2013 | Maciej Sumiński submits a second release of the View component for testing purposes. |
| 02-08-2013 | Tomasz Włostowski submits the Tool Framework technical description. |
| 28-08-2013 | The View component is available to run & build on the 3 major platforms (Linux, Windows & Mac OS X). |
| 19-09-2013 | Tomasz Włostowski publishes source code of the first version of the Push&Shove router. |
| 30-10-2013 | The CERN testing branch (Graphics Abstraction Layer, Tool Framework and Push&Shove router) is merged to the KiCad master branch. |
| 25-11-2013 | Ratsnest for the Graphics Abstraction Layer is released for testing. |
| 19-12-2013 | The Selection Tool improvements, part 1. |
| 07-02-2014 | The Selection Tool improvements, part 2. |
| 08-03-2014 | The branch containing drawing tools for the GAL is released for testing. |
| 14-05-2014 | Tomasz Włostowski releases a new version of the Interactive Push and Shove router. It is already merged in the official product branch. |
| 26-06-2014 | Module editor upgrade is released for testing. |
11 November 2014
