KiCad

Main article: CAD Computer-aided design systems

KiCad is a free Electronic Design Automation (EDA) system.

2023: KiCad 7.0.0

On February 13, 2023, it became known that after a year of development, the release of the free computer-aided design system for printed circuit boards KiCad 7.0.0 was published. This is the first significant release formed after the project moved under the wing of the Linux Foundation. Assemblies are prepared for various Linux, Windows and macOS distributions. The code is written in C++ using the wxWidgets library and distributed under the GPLv3 license.

KiCad 7.0.0

As reported, KiCad provides tools for editing electrical circuits and printed circuit boards, 3D board visualization, working with a library of electrical circuit elements, manipulating templates in Gerber format, simulating electronic circuits, editing printed circuit boards and project management. The project also provides libraries of electronic components, seats and 3D models. According to some printed circuit board manufacturers, as of February 2023, about 15% of orders are received with the provision of diagrams prepared at KiCad.

KiCad 7.0.0

Among the changes in this release:

• In the editors of diagrams, printed circuit boards and format frames, it is possible to use any system fonts.
• Support for text blocks has been added to the circuit and PCB editors.
• Added support for 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse, a mouse manipulator option for navigating 3D and 2D environments. Support for SpaceMouse-specific manipulations has appeared in the schematic editor, symbol library, PCB editor and 3D viewer. Working with SpaceMouse is still available only in Windows and macOS (in the future, it is planned to provide work in Linux using libspacenav).
• Information on the application operation is collected to be reflected in reports sent during emergency completions. The Sentry platform is used to track events, collect error information and generate crash dumps. The transmitted KiCad alarm completion data is processed using the Sentry Cloud Service (SaaS). In the future, it is planned to organize telemetry collection on the basis of Sentry with performance metrics that reflect information about how long certain commands are executed. So far, reports are only sent in assemblies for Windows and require explicit user consent (opt-in).
• The Plugin and Content Manager has added the ability to automatically check for updates for installed packages and display a notification with a proposal to install them. By default, verification is disabled and requires activation in the settings.
• The project interface, circuit and PCB editors, Gerber file viewer and format frame editor have added support for moving files in Drag & Drop mode.
• Assemblies for macOS formed for devices Apple based on ARM chips Apple M1 and M2 are provided.
• A separate utility kicad-cli has been added for use in scripts and automation of actions from the command line. Functions are provided for exporting circuit elements and PCBs in various formats.
• In editors and diagrams and symbols, support for primitives with a rectangle and a circle is implemented.
• The behavior of orthogonal dragging has been modernized (when the track is shifted, it is now placed only horizontally with angular transitions and symbol traversal).
• In the Symbol Editor, the capabilities associated with the pin table are enhanced. Added the ability to filter pins in reference to units of measure, change pin units from the table, create and delete pins in the symbol group, view the number of grouped pins.
• An ERC check has been added to warn you when placing a symbol using an incompatible grid (for example, a grid mismatch can lead to connection problems).
• Added the mode of rotation of the conductor by exactly 45 degrees (previously supported rotation by a straight line or by an arbitrary angle).
• Added DNP (Do Not Populate) mode to mark characters in the schema that will not be included in generated component location files. DNP characters are highlighted in a lighter color in the diagram.
• The Simulation Model editor has been added, which allows you to customize the parameters of the simulation model in graphical mode without having to insert text descriptions into the diagram.
• Added the ability to link characters to an external database using the ODBC interface. Characters from different schemes can also be associated with one common library.
• In the symbol selection window, support for displaying and finding your own fields has been added.
• Added the ability to use hypertext links in the schema.
• Optimized format support. PDF The PDF viewer has added support for the bookmark section (table of contents). It is possible to export information about schema symbols to PDF. Added support for external and internal links.
• A seat consistency check has been added that identifies seats that are different from the associated library.
• A separate tab with a list of ignored DRC tests has been added to the board and seat editors.
• Added support for radial dimensions.
• Added the ability to invert text objects on the PCB.
• An option has been added to automatically fill zones.
• Optimized PCB tools. Added the ability to display against the background of the image to optimize the copying of board contours or the location of seats from the reference board during reverse engineering. Added support for full de-routing of seats and automatic completion of the track.
• A panel for searching by mask and filtering objects has been added to the board editor.
• The Edit Properties panel has been added to the Board Editor.
• The tools for distribution, packaging and movement of seats have been changed.
• The export tool in STEP format has been translated into a common KiCad PCB parsing engine^[1].

2019: Transition to Linux Foundation patronage

On November 23, 2019, it became known that the project, which develops a free computer-aided design system for KiCad printed circuit boards, came under the auspices of the Linux Foundation. The developers expect that the development under the auspices of the Linux Foundation will attract additional resources for the development of the project and will make it possible to develop new services that are not directly related to development.

The Linux Foundation, as a neutral platform for interaction with manufacturers, will also attract new participants to the project. In addition, KiCad will take part in the CommunityBridge initiative, aimed at organizing the interaction of software developers with companies and individuals who are ready to provide financial support to certain developers or important projects.

KiCad provides tools for editing electrical diagrams and printed circuit boards, 3D rendering of the board, working with a library of electrical elements, manipulating templates in Gerber format and managing projects. Assemblies are prepared for Windows, macOS and various Linux distributions. The code is written in C++ using the wxWidgets library and distributed under the GPLv3 license. According to some circuit board manufacturers, about 15% of orders are received with the provision of diagrams prepared in KiCad.^[2]

2015: KiCad 4.0.0

On December 2, 2015, it became known about the release of KiCad 4.0.0^[3].

KiCad provides tools for working with templates in Gerber format, project management, editing electrical diagrams and printed circuit boards, 3D rendering of the board, working with a library of electrical circuit elements. Assemblies are prepared for Windows, OS X and various Linux distributions. The code is written in C++ using the wxWidgets library and distributed under the GPLv3 license.

This version presents a graphical GAL backend using OpenGL and Cairo, increases the realism of 3D models, implements the Python API for Pcbnew, uses an extended version of the PCB format (.kicad_pcb), implements the format for the soldering library, updated the soldering editor and added a soldering manager with support for downloading soldering from the Git repository.

As part of the system:

• kicad - project manager;
• eeschema - electrical diagram editor;
• Built-in schematic (library component) symbol editor
• pcbnew - PCB Editor;
• Built-in image editor for seats (library components)
• 3D Viewer - OpenGL-based 3D PCB viewer (part of pcbnew);
• gerbview - viewer of Gerber files (photographic patterns);
• cvpcb - a program for selecting seats corresponding to components in the diagram;
• wyoeditor - a text editor for viewing reports.

Functionality of components

• eeschema
  • creating single sheet and hierarchical diagrams,
  • check of their ERC correctness (control of electrical rules),
  • create a netlist of electrical circuits for the pcbnew board topology editor or for the Spice diagram simulation,
  • access to documentation for electronic components used in the diagram (datasheet).

• pcbnew
  • development of boards containing up to 16 layers of copper and up to 12 technical layers (silkscreen, soldering mask, etc.),

• access to external connection tracers by generating a board description on Specctra Design Language (on-line FreeRoute, etc.),
  • Generation of process files for PCB manufacturing (Gerber files for photo plotters, drill files and component placement files)
  • Print printed circuit diagrams and PCB drawings on a printer or plotter (in PostScript, HPGL, SVG and DXF formats), with or without a format frame.

• gerbview allows you to view Gerber files.

1992: First Release

In 1992, the first release of the KiCad system took place.

Product developer - Jean-Pierre Charras, researcher at LIS (French Laboratoire des Images et des Signaux - Laboratory of Images and Signals) and lecturer in electronics and image processing at IUT de Saint Martin d'Hères (France). History {/hide}

Notes