Beginner's questions

Community
1

Hello.

I’m new to KiCad and also to schematics software, layout, etc.
I have a software background and I also want to build some sensors for my private use (brightness sensor, temperature sensor, etc.) based on a ESP32.

Up to now I have made the layout and wirings by hand. I’d like to work more professionally and therefore I’d like to do the work with my computer (and KiCad).

The sensors are pretty straightforward, it’s just the ESP32, a I2C chip (eg. the TSL45315), some resistors, a power source, and the wirings between the component. The ESP and the I2C chip should be mounted on pin headers.

As far as I have understood, I need to create a schematics, then create a layout from it and do the routing. Finally I have to export the files in gerber format to be able to send it to a manufacturer.

Is this a reasonable project for a complete novice like me? For me it seems like a lot of work for such a small project, but on the other hand I would learn a lot about working with KiCad.

Can you give me some advices how to progress? Are there any templates I could use?

Thanks very much for any help,

Rudi

2

A good beginners tutorial series is the one by the guy who runs this forum:
https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/getting-to-blinky/

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3

Getting to Blinky is a nice video tutorial.
The “Getting started” in Kicad is also a nice tutorial, but in a readable format:
http://docs.kicad.org/stable/en/getting_started_in_kicad.html

The other documentation on the kicad website is also a very compact and informative source of info.

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4

Yes, I think it’s a reasonable project. Your first board will take a lot of time and seem like a lot of work, but each board you do will get easier and faster. (I come from a software background, too, and I started using KiCad about a year ago.)

5

While I am sure you will also get help on this board in regards to electrical circuit design, it might take longer than you want to wait.
In case you need help on that front, there is a stack-exchange forum/wiki for that:

Another forum I visited in the past (pretty much everything you need for electronics is covered, I used it to research on gear like Oscilloscopes for hobby/amateur usage), but can’t comment on helpfulness re circuit design would be Eevblog:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php

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Thanks to all for all the hints - I will try out everything that helps!

Rudi

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