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  • Author Author: colporteur
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KiCAD 6.0 symbol development question

colporteur

I am moving from generating PCB layouts using Fritzing to KiCAD. It has been something I have been considering for a while. I have been investing some resources (time, money and energy) in learning KiCAD 6. I have just completed the module on constructing your own symbols. This has some appeal to me, I've done some research on the topic and would like to get feedback from member that have some experience with KiCAD.

Here is the scenario. I have recently started using a DR21A01 relay module. I would like to have a symbol to call the module in KiCAD. My first thought is someone must have already done this. It doesn't seem realistic that individuals using KiCAD are constructing a symbol for this module when they need it.

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The site I purchased the units from has a schematic of the modules. None of the KiCAD symbols sites I have visited has a symbol for such a module. What am I missing? Are my expectation to high? Maybe a reputable site provides the resources to support the product. I tend to buy in markets that have the cheapest price. That doesn't necessarily mean you get all the things you need.  

I'm thinking components like this should have CAD modules that can be incorporated into designs. Yes/No?

Since I have limited experience with KiCAD I hoped those in our E14 community would share their knowledge. I did a search for an IR sensor modules I use often. Again nothing supported in a CAD. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place.

Do all KiCAD users just bang out their own. Seems rather labour intensive.

Chime in with your thoughts. I'm eager to learn.

  • It may, on the face of it, seem complicated to create a symbol and a footprint but it’s actually not at all complicated in Kicad.  I actually take the same approach as baldengineer mentions.  It’s worth the practice and I would make a guess that it might take you an hour to create a symbol and footprint for that part given it’s the first time.  Subsequently it might take you around 10-15mins.  The problem with downloading the component representations is that you (a) have to find them; and (b) carefully verify them because there’s a reasonable chance they aren’t right.  You could easily spend more time doing that, than just DIY.

    Shabaz made a comprehensive YouTube video walking through Kicad 6.0.

  • Design companies typically have a librarian (or team) that is responsible for all symbols and footprints. They only (are alowed to) use footprints from libraries vetted by that librarian.

    It's a business role to own this aspect of electronic design.

  • Also, for stuff like this, I have custom libraries named "My Symbols" in Schematic and "My Footprints."

    For parts with standard footprints, you usually only need to create the schematic symbol. So my schematic symbol library is significantly larger than the footprint library...

  • For any of these "modules", I would rarely expect an eCAD program to have a library footprint for them.

    That said, personally, I have never seen this module before. And I'm going to guess others haven't either. This reason is probably why there isn't an easy "just download this" option.

    However, it isn't that difficult to do in KiCad.

    You could either a) create a Symbol and a Footprint pair or b) just use a standard header pinout.

    For something like this, I would go with option B). I would add a "Conn_01x09" in the schematic and use net-labels to identify the pins. For the footprint, I would use Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x09_P2.54mm_Vertical.Then in PCB, I would draw a square polygon on the F.Mask (or one of the User) layer as an output of the module's PCB.

    Granted, if I planned to use this module on more than one PCB, I would make a custom footprint for it. But, I would probably still continue to use the generic connector in the schematic.