Work in progress: Native Altium Importer

Software
32

That is indeed a bit strange. None of the exes are packaged either.
I think someone have been messing with cmake in kicad then. The patch job uses the following to install the stuff in a deterministic dir, and not reference a custom path on the build machine on debug output.

        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${WORKSPACE}/_install/msys64/${BUILD_DIR_SUFFIX} \
        -DDEFAULT_INSTALL_PATH=${MINGW_PREFIX} \

Or maybe WORKSPACE does not resolve to anything

33

@craftyjon should be good now

1 Like
34

Updates of the last days:

  • Inital support of various dimensional elements
  • bugfix of arc calculation
  • some clearance rules are parsed for zones
  • plane layer should now work correctly
  • import of board outline

Next steps:

  • improve vias (blind/burried,…)
  • add support for board cutouts
  • add support for hatching in zones
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35

@pointhi Do you prefer bug reports on the merge request or as a separate issue on our branch, or would you rather wait?

I my case, I am happy that you got around to fix the board outline, that was one issue I saw, another I would like to report is about a slotted pad. Thank you very much for your effort, it seems to work very well already! :slight_smile:

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36

@nickoe I think reporting on the merge request is the better approach, to have everything documented in there.

It would be nice to have another windows build with the last improvements integrated, if you don’t mind.

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37

@pointhi Yeah, I just triggered it when I posted, so it just had to build and upload, it is at:

https://kicad-downloads.s3.cern.ch/windows/testing/patched/kicad-patched-601-5.99.0-855-g4230bc599-x86_64.exe

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38

Hi,
thanks for the build.
I gave it a shot today. Output Looks rather nice!

  • If there is a polygon/fill with keep out attribute checked in altium, KiCad import will turn it into board shape without on the same layer. So instead of copper keepout around mounting hole you have copper.
  • Designator orientation or position is messed up - in lot of cases it should be oriented vertically but it is imported horizontally
  • I have footprint with silk screen tented vias - this did not turned out well. But this is a quite corner case - creation of the footprint in altium is quite elaborate, not many people would do that.
    Hopefully I’ll be able to make a more thorough comparison during the weekend.

Cheers,
Jan

39

Unfortunately KiCad does not support a pad stack editor that would let you apply pad modifications (like whether or not to cover with soldermask or silkscreen) to individual vias, yet. So, some of the things from Altium will be “lost in translation” until KiCad has all the required features.

2 Likes
40

It’s not done at level of via. It’s done as a polygon in solder mask layer.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/eda/via-tenting-in-thermal-pad/msg527114/#msg527114

41

is this fixed in the current version? I improved polygon handling quite a bit, but it is still annoying. For example: Zones are defined at at least three different places:

  • Polygons6 (this should be the actual definition)
  • ShapeBasedRegions6 (this is the poured polygon generated from Polygons6)
  • Regions6 (this is the poured polygon only defined with points (no arcs).

Now, I don’t know how to differ between a Zone and a Polygon on copper, because I don’t see any reference between those two. The first one is defined in Polygons6, the other one likely in ShapeBasedRegions6, but zones are also present in ShapeBasedRegions6.

1 Like
42

All advanced systems have this in use. There was never a discussion about a pad stack library before introduction of the V6 format ?

43
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44

Hey, look-ee there. That’s my feature request. :nerd_face:

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45

Nah, it’s made by KiCad bot.

image

:robot: :smirk:

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46

Transferred from Launchpad.
It is impossible to uses high density BGA packages without using minimal pads on unconnected layers.
The same problem comes up with hgh density circular through hole connectors

47

I think @eelik was just jokingly teasing me. See his choice of emoticons.

48

Update of the last days:

  • support for hatched zones (but there are filling artifacts which need to be manually deleted at the moment)
  • initial support for board-cutouts
  • support of keepout zones / fills / lines / arcs
  • microvia / burried via support
  • bugfixes
  • rebase to current master
  • arc traces support

TODO:

  • polygon pad
  • improve zones (this seems to be the main issue of the importer, due to wrong clearances)
  • improve polygon drawings (only the filling is visible at the moment?)
2 Likes
49

I know that, but new users now and more in the future won’t know about the GitHub/Launchpad transfer

50

Ok, I have two community requests:

If you have access to Altium Circuit Studio:

  • I would need a board with a Dimension object inside. This is the only directory I did not find.

If you have access to Altium Designer:

  • I need boards with custom shapes. Ideally, place multiple custom shapes with the same shape but different sizes into one file, and add a screenshot so I know how it should look like in the end.
    Is it possible to define custom shapes like in KiCad by adding different primitives, or does Altium only support polygons?

thx, Thomas

51

Latest windows build: https://kicad-downloads.s3.cern.ch/windows/testing/patched/kicad-patched-619-5.99.0-1009-gbda2f7f91-x86_64.exe

2 Likes