There are a number of new commits to the master branch introducing a “multichannel tool”.
This term is new to me.
I would be curious to hear if someone would explain / give an overview of the functionality and purpouse of this tool.
After a short look at:
https://docs.kicad.org/doxygen/multichannel__tool_8cpp_source.html
my best guess is that it is going to be the replacement for the Replicate Layout plugin. The replicate layout plugin is a very popular plugin, (although I have no statistics) and some time ago I read (can’t remember the source) that its functionality is going to be implemented natively into KiCad itself.
After seeing that screenshot, (and having used Replicate Layout plugin myself) I realized that is has an overlap with an panelization tool if it is applied to the whole schematic instead of just a hierarchical sheet. This would also make it easy to modify the panel for later revisions of the project.
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It’s for doing repetitive layout (think of a matrix of LED displays or an audio mixer). With the new tool, you can design a single “channel” and automagically repeat the placement and routing into other “channels”. We’ll publish a tutorial once the UX/UI issues have been sorted out.
I can’t say how it compares to the “Replicate Layout” plugin because I have never used it. @paulvdh Furthermore, it has no overlap (at least no intended overlap) with the subject of panelization.
T.
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Yes, that is very close to what the Replicate Layout plugin does.
With the Replicate Layout, you first draw a hierarchical schematic, with multiple instances of a sheet. Then you do the PCB layout for one instance of such a hierarchical sheet, and you place one “reference footprint” for each of the other instances, and the plugin then does the footprint placement and routing for all the other instances.
It also has some extra settings to handle some details. It’s user interface looks like:
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