1) Same chip twice on schematic? 2)Construction Layer?

[Fran_iii]

Question 1:
Can Kicad handle the same chip appearing multiple times on the same schematic?
Example: U1 MCP23017 16-bit I/O Expander
I want to show U1 in several places on the schematic to show the logical signal flow of the Circuit.
GPIO A0 may connect to whatever in the upper right area of the schematic
… So I would place a copy of U1 there with the GPIO A0 pin connected to its circuit.
GPIO A1 may connect to something else in the lower left of the schematic
… So I would place another copy of U1 there with the GPIO A1 pin connected to its circuit.
GPIO A2 may connect to another circuit in the lower right of the schematic
… So I would place another copy of U1 there with the GPIO A2 pin connected to its circuit.
etc
When I get ready to create a PCB Is Kicad smart enough to know it is only a single chip? Or will it get confused?
Question 2:
If I draw a box around certain circuits on the schematic, will Kicad ignore that box when it comes time to create a PCB?
Thanks for any help.

[mf_ibfeew]

1. No, this will not work. You could create your own symbol consisting of multiple units (in your case GPIO_A0 / GPIO_A1 / GPIO_A2).

2. yes, the board-view ignores boxes in schematic.

[BlackCoffee]

This Cheating approach may help… In another post, I showed how I deal (cheat) with multiple Schematics/PCBs in a Single project folder.

Regarding your desire to have individual/optional hookup’s, below shows how I do it (simple extension of the concept…)

I take a Screenshot of R1 and R2 and place them on R0 Schematic and draw a Box around them…

[Fran_iii]

Black Coffee, are you saying you…

• place the part R0 on the schematic…
• then capture an image of it…
• then import or paste that image onto the schematic for R1 and R2 ?
  If so, how do you connect to R1’s pin 2… since it is not actually a part from the library?
  Ditto for R2
  Thanks for the help.

[BlackCoffee]

You can’t use a pasted screenshot for actual circuit. There are various ways of defining a Common Circuit and Specific Variation’s. All depends on you, your fab-house. The most important thing is to be Clear about what you want. That often means Info on a Drawing/Schematic.

Thus, you can have a Common Circuit/PCB with variations and inform Fab house by referring to clearly labeled images.
And/or Three separate Schematics/PCB… again, it’s about ‘you’ your fab-house’ needs. Ask them what they prefer for Common Circuit with Variations.

I guess I was too brief… So, to be clear, I’m saying:

Example - Starting from Scratch

1. Create a New Project - I’ll call it My_Example_ v1r0
   Thus: have PCB_v1r0 and Schematic_v1r0
2. Copy the PCB_v1r0 and Schematic_v1r0 files
3. Paste them into the same project folder (My_Example_v1r0)
4. Rename each of the pasted files to PCB and Schematic _v1r1
5. Repeat for as many as desired, let’s say two of each

Result:
My_Project_v1r0
PCB…v1r0 and Schematic…v1r0 Origina
PCB…v1r1 and Schematic…v1r1 Copy1
PCB…v1r2 and Schematic…v1r2 Copy2

Upon saving and Refresh, you get these in the same Project Folder:
My_Project_v1r0
PCB…v1r0 and Schematic…v1r0
My_Project_v1r1
PCB…v1r1 and Schematic…v1r1
My_Project_v1r2
PCB…v1r2 and Schematic…v1r2

You can open any of the My_Example_vxrx to work on desired PCB/Schematic (don’t need to open each specifically)

Now, Do the circuit design in Schematic_v1r0. Or, if wanting each Schematic to have the same basic circuit but, with variations (r1 and r2), Copy Circuit from Schematic_v1_r0 and Paste into Schematic’s r1 and r2

Note: For me, it’s more useful to fully design v1r0 then, copy and paste them into the Folder, then, ReName them (this way, you don’t have to design each Circuit since the Circuit is the same except for the revision you want to make to each, as desired.

Make the desired revisions as needed…

Now, take Screenshots of desired areas of v1r1 and v1r2 and paste into v1r0 and draw your box…

Simple…

[Fran_iii]

Thanks BlackCoffee. I’ll give this a try.