Hi all,
I am using KiCAD for some purposes; Electronic Design and System Wiring and Harness Design.
For Electronic Design it works, no questions for now. Electronic and PCB SW tools works when the Electronics are well defined at Unit Device Level, as standalone, but,… what about when this Device is a subset of a wider Design?. How can we define the wiring and connection links to define the complete system?.
For example, let’s imagine brushless motors that control four wheels that are separate from the control unit (MCU) and have to be connected by cables numbered W1 to W4 as shown in next figure…
Through a hierarchical design, we can define the MCU assembly, a PCB with a micro and its associated components which has a motor control connector and through a unique sheet we can define the interconnection wiring which is repeated 4 times but remains the same cable, from the point of view of manufacture; J1 and J2 for each cable (W), in which the only difference being the cable labeling (W1 to W4).
Using KiCAD it is not possible to perform a BOM since the annotation checks that there are no repetitions so does not allow it to continue.
KiCAD will be improved to make this possible? or, if there is some other method, how can we solve to get a correct BOM for the design?.
Thank you very much in advance.
NOTE: Project VEHICLE demo:
Vehicle.zip (26.5 KB)
And here the V2 (cable information inside sheets)
Vehicle_V2.zip (39.8 KB)