I hereby certify that I am not simply asking someone else to design a footprint for me.
This is an auto-generated message that is in place on the “footprints” section of the KiCad.info forum. If I remove it and ask for a footprint to be designed anyway, I understand that I will be subject to forum members telling me to go design my own footprint or referring me to a 3rd party footprint site.
Hello all,
Allow me to begin with I am a newbie, working on my first PCB design and may have bit off a lot to chew on. That is not something new for me though.
I am not familiar with most terms used in KiCad, nor lay out process of PCB. With that out of the way, I have managed to put together a very crude schematic with all my components. Well at least a somewhat version of my development board. I was not aware that the footprint I used was for the ESP32 chip that is on my Development board. I modified that footprint to resemble my Development board.
I have come to the realization that putting a board on a PCB is likely not a common practice, yet it is what I am attempting to accomplish. I have searched for a data sheet with dimensions and not found anything. I do have 3 of the boards to work with, want to make 3 PCBS to use with light strings that I have. Have developed my circuit on a bread board. Now want to put it on a PCB to compact the design for practical use.
So, what I would like direction on, is should I attempt to develop my own footprint for this development board, or use my schematic restructured sketch of the ESP32 chip for the footprint? It seems as though my restructured schematic design is not a good idea as it will not run on the simulator.
Or am I just out of place to attempt this?
Again, I am newbie, not afraid of a challenge (my life has been filled with such challenges, some take months to accomplish, some not as long) and many have been accomplished with minimal assistance. Electronics is a hobby in my retirement and has been an interest since childhood. Learning is a lifelong journey, when you stop learning, you start dying.
The Schematic: Always good idea to have one but, Kicad’sPCB can live without a Schematic. I go both ways, depending up the project.
The Schematic, if one, uses a symbol that can refer to the Footprint and the Footprint can refer to a 3D-Model, if desired.
Symbols,Footprints and 3D-Models are aplenty on the Internet, try getting them from reputable sources (Digikey, Mouser…). Always first check if one is aleread included in Kicad.
Always a good idea to learn making Symbols, Footpirnts (and 3D-Models if interested…)
Video shows grabbing one of my custom ESP32’s, placing the Symbol on Schematic, Updating a blank/new PCB, drawing the PCB’s shape and displaying in the 3D-Viewer…
Simulation’s is a different beast and for a different Post…
Putting a PCB module on a PCB is not unusual these days as module manufacturers can make them much cheaper that you can buy the parts for, and it’s tested too.
You just need to make a symbol that’s a rectangle with its pins. A giant part if you like. The footprint is just the rectangle for the module and the connector pins in the right places. Chances are somebody has done them for such a common module and you need to search the Internet for projects using it.
You will not be able to simulate in Spice a complex module such as a microcontroller. Generally you just use firmware to tailor its behaviour.
Awesome info! Thank you BlackCoffee and retiredfeline for your input.
Have yet to view the video, that will come later tonight (likely). Have done some research and the dev boards I purchased are not readily available with dimensions and much technical info (as usual my purchasing tendencies from Amazon got me in touch with an offshoot seller), yet I did find enough info, and with my trusty calipers, have been able to put a plan together (I think) to make my own footprint (and yes I want too learn :^))
Generally, these modules are made such that if pins are soldered into the pads on the PCB, the module assembly will plug into a standard breadboard.
If that is the case with yours, you will find that all measurements are in 1/10ths of inches (2.54 mm).
Of course, you may have the pins in different positions around the rectangle, and you will certainly have different names attached to each pin.
The only pins needed are the ones that attach to the PCB. The USB and output coax sockets do not attach to the PCB. These attach to cables that go somewhere other than the PCB, so are not needed for the symbol.
The footprint will look like a very wide version of a DIP 14 socket:
Instead of being 3/10 inches between the two columns of pads, it will need to be an inch or more (whatever you measure or the data sheet shows).
Maybe the correct symbol and footprint are in the Kicad libraries, maybe not, but if you start with the above items and then modify them, the job becomes a very easy task.
If you intend using these products for other projects, it is wise to place them into personal libraries (see here for creating).
If correct footprints and symbols are not available, “Copy/paste” or “File > Save as” the above items in the Kicad libraries to your personal libraries and then modify and save. Making and modifying symbols and footprints in the Symbol and Footprint Editors is really easy.
That is correct, spacing is 2.54 mm between pins as measured on my dev board and in footprints that I have found. That is a multiple between rows also.
Your suggestion for modifying a footprint or symbol is how I modified my symbol (stumbled through the editor til it got something like what I wanted). The thing that I was not able to quite get was how to enlarge it (the body) to proper dimensions (the outline). Found the tools to edit pins and figured out how to drag them near where they should be. Briefly scanned the video provided by BlackCoffee and see there are was to batch edit and click to apply settings from one to another pin. Need to sit down and study that, it will likely make this all go faster and easier. I never said I liked school, learn better doing it than studying.
