If you could automate one part of your design workflow, what would it be? We are asking e14 in our Join, Share & Win Competition

I wish there was a better way to copy or transfer information from one format to another.

Example: The pinout for an FPGA is in a table in a PDF datasheet.  I want this information to be automatically transferred to my pinout or constraints file... as opposed to the manual process.

If a solution for this already exists... please let me know.

Yeah after a few hours of running traces autorouting seems like not a bad idea. I looked into it in Version 6 of KiCAD and it was still early development. I'm waiting for a Shabaz or DougW to endorse a solution and then I'm all In.

If I recall correctly Shabaz enjoys the trace routing:)

Just one part? 

If I have to answer I can say at least two.

One is that designing a PCB is a lengthy task. In that, If I can automate some connections using some hat keys or using some AI that it would save time. 

Next if there is a design block in software it can save time. i.e. if I just say, "Write a code to send data over socket in Python for ESP32" Then it should be as simple as writing some lines of code in Micro python to send data over socket. Similarly for other protocols and interfaces. 

I recently got a very bright torch that I hope will help me with this. But if would be great to have a small robot that would detect things falling on the floor and would do the search and retrieval for me!

I don't use a headband magnifier but mostly because every time I take mine out of the drawer it's gone in 30 seconds and takes like 10 minutes for me to find where I placed it.

BD I am always fascinated with your response. You come up with the most obscure comments but still relevant.

I never heard of belay glasses. then of course I am not a rock climber. I can see craning ones neck to look up would result in fatigue. 

I won't rush out to buy a pair for my navel gazing. 

Yes, that might work for me as well. A quick win for some motivation to continue on. 

The psychological effect of the design workflow shall not be underestimated.

Here, I have an overhead camera/phone holder that gives a zenithal view of the working area. I found that filming the entire work session and taking still images from the video worked fine for me.
Another option would be to use a photo application that has voice recognition to trigger picture taking when it recognizes a keyword like "snap" which I believe exists for Android.

colporteur said:

After some navel-gazing

With all that navel-gazing going on, perhaps you need some sort of inverted belay glasses 

After some navel-gazing and a two-hour driving road trip, not at the same time, my “if you could automate one part of your design workflow. What would it be?” would be board stuffing.

I’m a through-hole technology neophyte. I bend leads on components, deploy sockets to hold integrated circuits and use screw terminals where possible to facilitate board connections. After my electronic birthing I was raised on THT. I know no other world.

Stuffing ten printed circuit boards is a large project. The first board component stuffed and soldered is enjoyment; the last board components stuffed and soldered is penance. Once past halfway, self-motivation is a must in order to prevent the squirrels of distraction from luring me elsewhere.

I look at the projects of community members that use surface-mount technology with envy. I raise the question. Why don’t I do that? It looks so much easier.

Then PCB’s manufactures dangle the opportunity of board stuffing for me. Wouldn’t that be nice? Since I have incomplete parts lists and fudge some footprints to make things work, I accept my projects are not of this world. I don’t wish to spend energy fitting them within that realm.

I like projects that have five PCB’s or less. That doesn’t elicit the emotion of a ten-board order. I’ve tried doing the larger orders in multiple sittings, but that feels like I’m dragging production out longer than I need to. Just get it done!

My “automate one part of the design” feels like a complaint or maybe a whine. I accept the joy of the first board and the slog to get the final board stuffed as part of the design. It is a small irritant in the complete process that excellent tools make easier.

Perhaps take a look at some of the security camera systems. They record multiple HD cameras continuously (or via schedule) to a network video recorder which then overwrites after a month or so depending on capacity. Within that time you can then go back and mark out anything that you want to keep for publishing and export it.

We have one such system installed here in the medical school for training purposes. It records activity at multiple beds and can also record instrumentation that has a HDMI / HD-SDI output.