Workbench power interface

## Perfboard Design & Lessons Learned

The Workbench Power Interface started as a simple KiCad schematic and PCB layout, but adapting the design to a real 20 × 80 mm perfboard introduced a number of physical constraints that were not obvious during the initial electrical design.

### Designing for the Physical Perfboard

The available perfboard has:

- 20 × 80 mm physical dimensions
- 6 × 28 holes
- 2.54 mm hole pitch
- Isolated plated pads
- Four small M2 mounting holes

The original PCB layout was electrically correct, but it did not accurately represent the physical perfboard. This required revisiting the layout from a mechanical perspective.

A custom KiCad footprint was created to model the perfboard and provide a realistic placement reference.

### Building the Custom Perfboard Footprint

The footprint was designed around the actual 2.54 mm hole spacing.

Because the board contains an even number of rows and columns, its geometric center falls between holes rather than on a hole. The hole array therefore had to be positioned carefully relative to the 80 × 20 mm board outline.