CERN BE-CO-HT Contribution to KiCad
This ohwr.org project has been set up to facilitate the contribution of
CERN 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.
KiCad PCB layout snapshot*
Detailed project information
- Official KiCad website
- KiCad designs on ohwr.org
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Publications
- KiCad - a tool for sharing, learning and developing, CERN & Society Foundation (September 2021)
- CERN contribution to KiCad aids Open Source Hardware and knowledge transfer, Open Source Observatory - OSOR (July 2018)
- Apprenez à maîtriser KiCad EDA, Electronique et Loisirs Magazine, No.141, Hiver 2017 (Oct.2017, 13 MB, In French)
- KiCad reaches new heights, CERN Bulletin, Issue No. 27-28/2017
- Annual Review 2016, CERN & Society Foundation, May 2017
- Bibliotheque CAO 3D KiCad, Elektor magazine, 5/2017 (May 2017, In French)
- Creating A PCB In Everything: KiCad, Part 1 - Hackaday (Nov.2016)
- Free PCB ECAD: The Ultimate list (Apr.2016)
- KiCad 4.0 is Released (Nov.2015)
- KiCAD now with differential pair routing and trace length matching (Mar.2015)
- KiCad challenges the big ones CERN Bulletin News (Feb.2015)
- KiCad software gets the CERN treatment CERN (Feb.2015)
- CERN Shows Off New KiCad Module Editor (July 2014)
- KiCad's got a new interactive router! (June 2014)
- CERN supports KiCad development Dangerous Prototypes (Apr.2013)
- EEVblog Electronics Community Forum - CERN's contribution to KiCAD (Oct.2013)
- KiCad: CERN's Contribution to Free/Open PCB Design, EETimes (Nov.2013)
- The Amp Hour (starting at minute 12) Chris Gammell and Dave Jones briefly discuss CERN's developments for KiCad (Dec.2013)
- Presentations
- KiCad Project Status, A state-of-the-union talk by KiCad's project leader Wayne Stambaugh. (Feb.2019) - Mentions CERN&Society donations.
- An Interview with the core KiCad development team, The Amp hour Electronics Podcast (May 2019)
- Support of free software in public institutions: the KiCad case, OctConf2017. (March 2017)
- Diving into the KiCad source code, FOSDEM 2017 (Feb.2017)
- Integrated Spice Simulation with Kicad, FOSDEM 2017 (Feb.2017)
- Interactive routing algorithms in modern PCB design tools, FOSDEM 2015 (Feb.2015)
- Videos from CERN
- SPICE simulation integrated in KiCad (proposal, July 2016)
- Kicad - Differential pair routing and trace length matching (March 2015)
- KiCad Module Editor upgrade (June 2014)
- KiCad Interactive Router - release version (May 2014)
- KiCad push-and-shove routing Youtube (Sept.2013)
Want to help?
If you would like to offer a bit of your spare time to help us improving
KiCad, below you can find links listing our goals for the next
release.
If you need any help, do not hesitate to contact us - we will gladly
introduce you to the source code.
Donations
Please visit the CERN & 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. |
| 18-09-2014 | Tomasz Włostowski starts working on the Push and Shove router improvements: track length tuning tool & differential pair router. |
| 09-03-2015 | Tomasz Włostowski published Kicad - Differential pair routing and trace length matching. |
| 12-09-2015 | As a part of preparations for stable release, RC1 version was published. |
| 08-11-2015 | RC2 version is available for testing. |
| 29-11-2015 | KiCad 4.0.0 stable is released. |
| 28-02-2016 | KiCad 4.0.2 stable is released. |
| 14-04-2016 | OpenGL canvas renders text using bitmap fonts. |
| 21-07-2016 | KiCad integrates a circuit simulator interface based on ngspice. |
| 29-10-2016 | KiCad hackathon during the first e-HAL event in Sao Paulo, Brazil [contents in Portuguese]. |
| 24-03-2017 | Modified the zone classes to take advantage of a new improved geometry library. |
| 28-03-2017 | First meeting with CERN design office about pilot test. |
| 16-06-2017 | Work on Eagle schematic import work package started, funded by CERN & Society donations. |
| 23-06-2017 | New "connectivity algorithm" by Tomasz Włostowski is merged to the master branch. |
| 20-10-2017 | Eagle schematic import package merged to the master branch. |
| 30-10-2017 | Work on bus connections upgrade started, funded by CERN & Society donations. |
| 14-11-2017 | Symbol Library Editor refactored, test version released. |
| 15-03-2018 | Preparations for the long-awaited v5 release: bug fixing and documentation updates. |
| 22-07-2018 | KiCad 5.0.0 released: KiCad 5 – A New Generation. |
| 25-09-2019 | Several workpackages to improve KiCad sponsored by donations to CERN & Society. |
| 01-10-2021 | In 24 months 19 Work Packages sponsored by the CERN & Society Foundation contribute to the KiCad 6.0 release. |
1 October 2021
