Okay, I am trying to create the tracks for the PCB now and having some troubles. Is there a free autorouter software that will do the routing? The one on kicad doesn’t seem to do it well. Is there auto placer for the components as well ?
I am trying to create a cape for the beaglebone.
Or is it better to do the whole tracks by hand?
Thanks.
The third party tool Freerouter aka Freerouting
Search on this forum and you will find several threads about its use.
You have to export a .dsn file to it
You still need to place your components with some thought, an autorouter is not capable of making amends for a poor layout. Laying out a board is an iterative process - place some components, arranged logically, rotate, move and rearrange to minimise crossing tracks on your rats nest. Rinse and repeat. Think a bit about where your connectors/switches etc sit. Depending on your board, there may be other issues - capacitance/thermal issues/RF all of which may need to be thought about. Just plonking a pile of components on a board and expecting an autorouter to sort out the mess and join them all up with correct sized/length/capacitance tracks is doomed. For a very simple design, it might come up with a solution or an autorouter might help you with parts of a very complex layout. You will probably learn far more about the process of laying out a board by not using an autorouter.