- KiCad is a cross-platform program, written in C with wxWidgets to run on FreeBSD, Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Many component libraries are available, and users can add custom components. The custom components can be available on a per-project basis or installed for use in any project.
- What are your thoughts and opinions on the best EDA software available for Mac OS right now? I've used gEDA in the past on Linux, albeit many years ago so I'm sure a lot has changed, and that would run on Mac OS now but a quick google search reveals several options. Eagle, gEDA, KiCad, and others.
- Downloads for Altium's PCB Design Products and EDA Software. Easy, quick and reliable.
Two major components of geda: Schematic capture with gschem and layout artwork with PCB | |
| Original author(s) | Ales Hvezda et al. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | April 1, 1998; 23 years ago |
| Stable release | |
| Repository | |
| Operating system | Linux, Unix-like, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows (experimental) |
| Type | Electronic design automation |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | www.geda-project.org |
Mac OS X Leopard Server was the 6th release of the Mac OS X Server versions. Introduced around 2007, I will be doing a quick demo of the OS in this video.In.
The term gEDA refers to two things: Hands on experience mac os.
- A set of software applications (CAD tools) used for electronic design released under the GPL. As such, gEDA is an ECAD (electronic CAD) or EDA (electronic design automation) application suite. gEDA is mostly oriented towards printed circuit board design (as opposed to integrated circuit design). The gEDA applications are often referred to collectively as 'the gEDA Suite'.
- The collaboration of free software/open-source developers who work to develop and maintain the gEDA toolkit. The developers communicate via gEDA mailing lists, and have participated in the annual 'Google Summer of Code' event as a single project. This collaboration is often referred to as 'the gEDA Project'.
The word 'gEDA' is a conjunction of 'GPL' and 'EDA'. The names of some of the individual tools in the gEDA Suite are prefixed with the letter 'g' to emphasize that they are released under the GNU General Public License.
History[edit]
The gEDA project was started by Ales Hvezda in an effort to remedy the lack of free software EDA tools for Linux/UNIX.[1] The first software was released on 1 April 1998, and included a schematic capture program and a netlister.[2] At that time, the gEDA Project website and mailing lists were also set up.
Originally, the project planned to also write a PCB layout program. However, an existing open-source layout program, 'PCB', was soon discovered by the project. Thereafter, the ability to target netlists to PCB was quickly built into the gEDA Project's netlister, and plans to write a new layout program from scratch were scrapped. Meanwhile, developers working on PCB became affiliates of the gEDA Project.
Other open-source EDA programs were created at about the same time. The authors of those programs became affiliated with the gEDA website and mailing lists, and the collaborative gEDA Project was born.
At present, the gEDA Project remains a federation of software tools developed by different (but sometimes overlapping) programmers. The thread which holds the project together is the shared vision of creating a powerful, community-based, open-source EDA toolkit.
Lepton EDA was forked from the gEDA/gaf suite in late 2016 by most of its active developers at that time.
Detailed description[edit]
Loosely speaking, the term 'gEDA Suite' refers to all free software projects and applications that have associated themselves with the gEDA Project via the geda-dev/geda-user mailing lists. These include:
- gEDA/gaf - gschem and friends (the original project)
- PCB - PCB layout program
- Gerbv - Gerber file viewer
- ngspice - a port of Berkeley SPICE
- GnuCap - A modern electronic circuit simulation program
- gspiceui - A GUI front end for ngspice/GnuCap
- gwave - An analog waveform viewer
- gaw - An analog waveform viewer a rewrite of gwave. Works with gspiceui.
- Icarus Verilog - A Verilog simulator
- GTKWave - A digital waveform viewer
- wcalc - Transmission line and electromagnetic structure analysis
Within the gEDA Suite, gEDA/gaf ('gaf' stands for 'gschem and friends') is the smaller subset of tools grouped together under the gEDA name and maintained directly by the gEDA project's founders. GEDA/gaf includes:
- gschem - A schematic capture program
- gnetlist - A netlist generation program
- gsymcheck - A syntax checker for schematic symbols
- gattrib - A spreadsheet program for editing symbol attributes on a schematic.
- libgeda - Libraries for gschem, gnetlist, and gsymcheck
- gsch2pcb - Forward annotation from schematic to layout using pcb
- Assorted utility programs
Platforms[edit]
Linux[edit]
Because one of the gEDA Project's longstanding goals is to provide a suite of EDA applications for Linux, all applications in the gEDA Suite compile and run on Linux. Besides building the programs from source, binary executables for all programs in the gEDA Suite are available from popular package archives; the programs may be installed on many common Linux distributions using package management tools such as apt or dnf.
Unix[edit]
All gEDA applications will also compile and run on other Unix-like operating systems, such as OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD. Some of these distributions also support installation of pre-packaged binaries using package management utilities.
Mac OS X[edit]
- KiCad is a cross-platform program, written in C with wxWidgets to run on FreeBSD, Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Many component libraries are available, and users can add custom components. The custom components can be available on a per-project basis or installed for use in any project.
- What are your thoughts and opinions on the best EDA software available for Mac OS right now? I've used gEDA in the past on Linux, albeit many years ago so I'm sure a lot has changed, and that would run on Mac OS now but a quick google search reveals several options. Eagle, gEDA, KiCad, and others.
- Downloads for Altium's PCB Design Products and EDA Software. Easy, quick and reliable.
Two major components of geda: Schematic capture with gschem and layout artwork with PCB | |
| Original author(s) | Ales Hvezda et al. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | April 1, 1998; 23 years ago |
| Stable release | |
| Repository | |
| Operating system | Linux, Unix-like, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows (experimental) |
| Type | Electronic design automation |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | www.geda-project.org |
Mac OS X Leopard Server was the 6th release of the Mac OS X Server versions. Introduced around 2007, I will be doing a quick demo of the OS in this video.In.
The term gEDA refers to two things: Hands on experience mac os.
- A set of software applications (CAD tools) used for electronic design released under the GPL. As such, gEDA is an ECAD (electronic CAD) or EDA (electronic design automation) application suite. gEDA is mostly oriented towards printed circuit board design (as opposed to integrated circuit design). The gEDA applications are often referred to collectively as 'the gEDA Suite'.
- The collaboration of free software/open-source developers who work to develop and maintain the gEDA toolkit. The developers communicate via gEDA mailing lists, and have participated in the annual 'Google Summer of Code' event as a single project. This collaboration is often referred to as 'the gEDA Project'.
The word 'gEDA' is a conjunction of 'GPL' and 'EDA'. The names of some of the individual tools in the gEDA Suite are prefixed with the letter 'g' to emphasize that they are released under the GNU General Public License.
History[edit]
The gEDA project was started by Ales Hvezda in an effort to remedy the lack of free software EDA tools for Linux/UNIX.[1] The first software was released on 1 April 1998, and included a schematic capture program and a netlister.[2] At that time, the gEDA Project website and mailing lists were also set up.
Originally, the project planned to also write a PCB layout program. However, an existing open-source layout program, 'PCB', was soon discovered by the project. Thereafter, the ability to target netlists to PCB was quickly built into the gEDA Project's netlister, and plans to write a new layout program from scratch were scrapped. Meanwhile, developers working on PCB became affiliates of the gEDA Project.
Other open-source EDA programs were created at about the same time. The authors of those programs became affiliated with the gEDA website and mailing lists, and the collaborative gEDA Project was born.
At present, the gEDA Project remains a federation of software tools developed by different (but sometimes overlapping) programmers. The thread which holds the project together is the shared vision of creating a powerful, community-based, open-source EDA toolkit.
Lepton EDA was forked from the gEDA/gaf suite in late 2016 by most of its active developers at that time.
Detailed description[edit]
Loosely speaking, the term 'gEDA Suite' refers to all free software projects and applications that have associated themselves with the gEDA Project via the geda-dev/geda-user mailing lists. These include:
- gEDA/gaf - gschem and friends (the original project)
- PCB - PCB layout program
- Gerbv - Gerber file viewer
- ngspice - a port of Berkeley SPICE
- GnuCap - A modern electronic circuit simulation program
- gspiceui - A GUI front end for ngspice/GnuCap
- gwave - An analog waveform viewer
- gaw - An analog waveform viewer a rewrite of gwave. Works with gspiceui.
- Icarus Verilog - A Verilog simulator
- GTKWave - A digital waveform viewer
- wcalc - Transmission line and electromagnetic structure analysis
Within the gEDA Suite, gEDA/gaf ('gaf' stands for 'gschem and friends') is the smaller subset of tools grouped together under the gEDA name and maintained directly by the gEDA project's founders. GEDA/gaf includes:
- gschem - A schematic capture program
- gnetlist - A netlist generation program
- gsymcheck - A syntax checker for schematic symbols
- gattrib - A spreadsheet program for editing symbol attributes on a schematic.
- libgeda - Libraries for gschem, gnetlist, and gsymcheck
- gsch2pcb - Forward annotation from schematic to layout using pcb
- Assorted utility programs
Platforms[edit]
Linux[edit]
Because one of the gEDA Project's longstanding goals is to provide a suite of EDA applications for Linux, all applications in the gEDA Suite compile and run on Linux. Besides building the programs from source, binary executables for all programs in the gEDA Suite are available from popular package archives; the programs may be installed on many common Linux distributions using package management tools such as apt or dnf.
Unix[edit]
All gEDA applications will also compile and run on other Unix-like operating systems, such as OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD. Some of these distributions also support installation of pre-packaged binaries using package management utilities.
Mac OS X[edit]
Most gEDA applications also install and run successfully on Mac OS X, typically using the Fink package manager and Macports. Since few commercial EDA tools run on the Mac, this feature has made gEDA a popular electronic design package amongst Mac users.
Microsoft Windows[edit]
Microsoft Windows support is currently not a primary project goal. Nonetheless, some programs in the gEDA Suite have built-in hooks for Windows support, and those programs will build and run under Windows. However, binary executables for most of the gEDA Suite are not distributed by the gEDA Project.
Community[edit]
An important feature of the gEDA project is the strong user community it has created.[3] The gEDA mailing lists have several hundred subscribers, and many subscribers are electronics experts. Thus, the gEDA mailing lists have become a source not only for information related to the gEDA applications, but also for exchange of general electronic design information.
As a consequence of the project's openness, schematic symbols, footprints, and utility scripts are freely created and shared amongst the members of the gEDA community at a spin-off website, www.gedasymbols.org.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Goering, Richard (2004-12-13). 'Do-it-yourselfer's EDA project wins open-source fans'. EE Times. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ^Goering, Richard (1998-11-25). 'Open-source movements get behind GNU EDA tools'. EE Times. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
- ^Anderson, Tom (2008). 'Creating Open Source Electronic Hardware with Open Source Software'. O'Reilly OSCON Open Source Convention. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
External links[edit]
- Circuit Design on Your Linux Box Using gEDA — Overview article in the Linux Journal
- gsch2pcb tutorial — How to go from schematic to pcb layout
- Using gEDA — Another tutorial describing how to use the gEDA Toolset.
- Windows installer — An unofficial installer for windows.
- Lepton EDA — Currently active fork of gEDA.
| Original author(s) | Jean-Pierre Charras |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | KiCad developers[1] |
| Initial release | 1992; 29 years ago[2] |
| Stable release | 5.1.9 / 28 December 2020; 4 months ago |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C++[3] |
| Operating system | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| Available in | 23 languages[4] |
| Type | EDA |
| License | GNU GPL v3+[5] |
| Website | www.kicad.org |
KiCad (pronounced 'Key-CAD'[6]) is a free software suite for electronic design automation (EDA). It facilitates the design of schematics for electronic circuits and their conversion to PCB designs. KiCad was originally developed by Jean-Pierre Charras. It features an integrated environment for schematic capture and PCB layout design. Tools exist within the package to create a bill of materials, artwork, Gerber files, and 3D views of the PCB and its components.
History[edit]
KiCad was created in 1992 by Jean-Pierre Charras while working at IUT de Grenoble.[7] Since then KiCad has gained a number of both volunteer and paid contributors. Notably in 2013 the CERN BE-CO-HT section started contributing resources towards KiCad to help foster open hardware development by helping improve KiCad to be on par with commercial EDA tools.
KiCad adopted a point release versioning scheme in December 2015 starting with KiCad 4.0.0. This was the first release featuring the more advanced tools implemented by CERN developers. CERN hopes to contribute further to the development of KiCad by hiring a developer through donations. Contributions may be made through the links on KiCad's website.
Components[edit]
The KiCad suite has five main parts:
KiCad– the project manager.Eeschema– the schematic capture editor.Pcbnew– the PCB layout program. It also has a 3D view.GerbView– the Gerber viewer.Bitmap2Component– tool to convert images to footprints for PCB artwork.
Features[edit]
KiCad uses an integrated environment for all of the stages of the design process: Schematic capture, PCB layout, Gerber file generation/visualization, and library editing.
KiCad is a cross-platform program, written in C++ with wxWidgets to run on FreeBSD, Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Many component libraries are available, and users can add custom components. The custom components can be available on a per-project basis or installed for use in any project. There are also tools to help with importing components from other EDA applications, for instance EAGLE. There are also third party libraries available for KiCad, including SnapEDA, and the Digi-Key KiCad Library.[8] Configuration files are in well documented plain text, which helps with interfacing version control systems, as well as with automated component generation scripts.
Localisation[edit]
Multiple languages are supported, such as Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish.
Eda (demo) Mac Os Catalina
Eeschema[edit]
Eeschema has features including hierarchical schematic sheets, custom symbol creation, and an ERC (electrical rules check). Schematic symbols in Eeschema are very loosely coupled to footprints in Pcbnew to encourage reuse of footprints and symbols (e.g. a single 0805 footprint can be used for capacitors, resistors, inductors, etc.).
Pcbnew[edit]
Internally Pcbnew supports up to 32 copper layers and 32 technical layers. Dimensions are stored with nanometer precision in signed 32-bit integers making the theoretical maximal PCB dimension 231 nm, or approximately 2.14 meters.
Eda (demo) Mac Os Catalina
Currently[citation needed] Pcbnew is being heavily refactored, including getting a new rendering engine (called the graphics abstraction layer, or GAL) with OpenGL and Cairo back ends. Pcbnew is also getting a new tool framework to more easily allow developers to add tools without having to deal with supporting multiple renderers. Due to this some tools are only available on the legacy XOR-based renderer and some are only available with the GAL renderers.
KiCad had a built-in autorouter for basic, single connections (since removed from the suite). Alternatively, Alfons Wirtz's open-source Java-based FreeRouting[9] can be used to externally autoroute boards. Anthony Blake's Toporouter, a topological autorouter developed in 2008 for gEDAPCB as a Google-funded open source project mentored by DJ Delorie,[10] has been adapted for use with KiCad as well.
A DRC (design rules check) is available to check for common logical errors.
The 3D PCB viewing function is based on VRML models, and the board model can be exported for CAD integration.
Some recent[citation needed] additions follow.
An interactive router, which features the ability to walk around existing traces in the way or shove existing traces into a different position while maintaining their connectivity.
High-speed PCB routing tools such as track-length matching and differential pair support.
Python scripting support.
Community[edit]
On 12 March 2015 Olimex Ltd,[11] a provider of development tools and embedded device programmers, announced that they have switched from EAGLE to KiCad as their primary EDA tool.[12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^''KiCad Developers' team'. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
- ^Halvick, Remy (2007-07-08). 'Re: About KiCad first release'. kicad-users.
[…] JP Charras said me that the first drafts were made in 1992 for a DOS version, but not diffused […]
- ^Manveru (2009-10-13). 'KiCad'. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
- ^'kicad-i18n - Translations for KiCad source code'.
- ^'KiCad Program License'. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
- ^Stambaugh, Wayne (2018-02-03) [2018]. 'KiCad Version 5 New Feature Demo'. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29.
- ^'Kicad'. iut-tice.ujf-grenoble.fr. Archived from the original on 2015-12-21. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- ^'Digi-Key KiCad Library'.
- ^Wirtz, Alfons (2014-03-08) [2004]. 'FreeRouting - Printed Circuit Board Routing Software from FreeRouting.net'. Archived from the original on 2017-09-23. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- ^Blake, Anthony (2009-07-07) [2008]. 'Topological Autorouter - Introduction'. Archived from the original on 2011-02-27.
- ^'Olimex Ltd.'
- ^'Our first two small KiCAD OSHW boards are ready!'. 2015-03-12. Archived from the original on 2015-03-17.
External links[edit]
| Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Kicad |
