WeevilEyeMod

This is a repo to support our Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design Summer School series of events

• Please join the Discord server here to share tips and info

The Basics

​Join us for Maker Summer School! In this summer series, you can learn how to design your own printed circuit board using the free open source (FOSS) software package KiCad.

• ​Over four evening sessions, we'll take you on a gentle dive into the typically hidden-world of everyday electronics and help you start to make your own.
• All sessions takes place from 18:30 in the 42 auditorium
• The first session is a general intro to the topic, to see if it's your thing
• If you like it join the "learning pact" for the next 3 weeks to design and send for your own board
• The best finished boards will be sponsored by the school

From LED 'blinky' badges to, mini-keyboards and games-consoles, circuit-board jewelry and synthesisers - we'll take a look at a series of example projects that we’ve produced over the last year and use those as jumping-off points for your own designs. So whether you're a budding hardware engineer or an artist looking explore a new fabrication technique - you'll find the practical tools you need here.

​And of course we’ll learn some electronics too as a side effect :)

Inspirational Projects

See the list here - including FabLab members projects!

17.06 Session 1: The Printed Circuit Design Workflow

• Trip to China: Virtual tour of a PCB factory and JLCPCB
• Anatomy of a Printed Circuit Board
• ​“Hello Hardware World”: Laying out, checking and uploading a blinky badge using KiCad
• ​Components and Their Footprints: through-hole vs surface mount
• ​Choose your own project for the coming weeks

24.06 Session 2: Deeper-Dive into Schematics and Boards

• How to create a schematic (and re-use those of others)
• ​Performing an electrical rules check (ERC)
• ​From schematic to board: board shape, footprints and layouts (DRC)
• ​Assisted individual project time

01.07 Session 3: Individual Projects and Advanced Topics

• Traces vs pours and other routing tips-and-tricks
• ​"Round-tripping" for artistic PCB design: from KiCad to Inkscape and back
• ​Case study: Designing to mill-it-yourself (MIY) on our CNC mill
• ​How to make your own custom symbol and footprints
• ​Assisted individual project time

08.07 Session 4: Advanced Topics and Ordering

• Big push to complete and order your designs!
• ​Design options: beyond 2-layer boards and rigid PCBs
• ​Case study: Fully-assembled PCBs (e.g. butterfly project)
• ​Fabrication with JLCPCB: tips and tricks