BPSD-2025

Prerequisites

• Git
• KiCad
• A GitHub account

Board Templates

When making a new PCB, if the board is to be manufactured by JLCPCB. import the corresponding board constraints from Board Templates/JLC

Getting Started

This section will walk you through downloading the repository to your computer for the first time. You only need to do this once.

1. Generate a GitHub Token

A token is essentially a password that lets Git on your computer talk to GitHub securely.

1. Log into GitHub
2. Click your profile picture → Settings
3. Scroll down and click Developer settings (bottom of the left sidebar)
4. Click Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic)
5. Click Generate new token (classic)
6. Give it a name (e.g. git-access), set an expiration, and check the repo scope
7. Click Generate token and copy it — you won't be able to see it again!

2. Clone the Repository

"Cloning" means downloading a full copy of the repository to your computer.

Open Git Bash and run the following commands one at a time:

git clone https://github.com/LSUTigerRacing/Electronics.git
cd Electronics

When prompted for a password, paste the token you copied in the previous step.

3. Open the Project in KiCad

In Git Bash, highlight and right-click Electronics to open the folder in File Explorer. From there, open the KiCad project file (.kicad_pro).

Contributing

This section covers the full workflow for making changes and submitting them every time you work on something.

[!IMPORTANT] Never commit directly to main. All changes must go through a pull request.

Step 1 — Make sure you're up to date

Before starting any work, pull the latest changes from the repository so you're not working on an outdated copy.

cd Electronics
git pull origin main

Step 2 — Create a branch

A "branch" is your own isolated workspace. Think of it like making a photocopy of the project — you make your edits on the copy, and only merge it back once everything looks good.

Replace your-branch-name with something descriptive (e.g. fault-latch-rework).

git checkout -b "your-branch-name"

Step 3 — Make your edits

Open the KiCad project and make your changes. Save your work when done.

Step 4 — Stage and commit your changes

"Staging" tells Git which files to include, and "committing" saves a snapshot of those changes with a description.

git add .
git commit -m "Brief description of what you changed"

Step 5 — Push your branch to GitHub

"Pushing" uploads your local branch so others (and GitHub) can see it.

git push -u origin "your-branch-name"

Step 6 — Open a Pull Request

1. Go to the repository on GitHub
2. Click the Pull requests tab
3. Click New pull request
4. Set the base branch to main and the compare branch to yours
5. Give it a clear title and description of what you changed
6. Click Create pull request

A reviewer will look over your changes. Once approved, your branch will be merged into main and can then be deleted.

PCB Gallery

Fault Latch