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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.พ. 2024
- Easy is more than appropriate for this video. I came across this very handy tool "easyeda2kicad". Very handy if you want some PCBs from www.PCBWay.com/?from=atomic
You can find the tool here: github.com/uPesy/easyeda2kica...
It's a really nice tool that will download EasyEDA models from LCSC and load them into KiCad.
Pretty handy!
In the video I'm using an ESP32 module for the demo - but there is an official KiCad library already with some really nice 3D models. github.com/espressif/kicad-li...
The only slightly annoying thing is that the 3D models are VRML so if you want them included in your PCB's 3D model you need to export in that format. Freecad (www.freecad.org/) seems to handle this quite nicely, so it's not the end of the world. And if you can load it into Blender and export as Wavefront obj files for Fusion360.
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Thanks, as always atomic14! Great video! This is gonna help me in the future alot as footprints can be a real pain sometimes, especially in KiCad.
Handy as! I always struggle with getting the footprints right and it's just one of the learning curves with kicad.
So useful !!! Thank you !
EasyEDA actually can export your PCB as 3D model. Just go to "File - Export - 3D Model (obj)" when you're in the PCB view (not 3D view). But for some reason the export is really bad quality compared to the 3D render :(
There is a video on @IsiksTech 's channel to export a PCB from EasyEDA to a .step file using EasyEDA Pro (still free) - I tried it it works really well!
because they have the actual step files but want users stuck on their platform
This is a bit of a game changer for me.
Brilliant, and very damn useful. Thank you.
You have to check so much, as footprints are often overlooked by websites.
Just had a PCB given to me to assembly and the footprint had not been updated to the new version. looked right but the size was incorrect. When you don't have the chips and expect the supplied footprint to be right! they failed to check chip data sheet to footprint. hence they had to find old stock of the smaller chips.
Over the years I've got used to creating my own component / footprint libraries which i check the datasheets to make sure all footprints are correct and with SMD devices a different one for hand assembly v's reflow etc.
Brilliant!
Sometimes it is nice to have components 3d models in kicad, especially for bigger components to make the pcb fit in the enclosure. But most times I find myself just exporting the pcb itself to f360, to have mounting holes and board dimensions right.
Super useful,info, thanks
Definitely a handy tool.
It's a shame Kicad can't export the 3D pcb as a step file. It's one of the reasons I stuck with Diptrace. One advantage of Kicad's mesh export is that you can include the copper traces - very nice if you want to do photo-realistic renderings of your pcb in Fusion 360. Altium didn't offer this when I last checked. Diptrace can do this too but only as a mesh so if you want step for copper layers then you have to mess around with canvases and / or decals. Alternatively you can export the copper layer as 2D dxf and build a 3D thin solid body in Fusion. It works but there is a hell of a lot of geometry in an average copper layer. The only software I've found which can step export the complete pcb with copper, silk, components etc is Zofzed PCB. It's expensive and full step export is disabled in the trial version. Amazing app tho!
That is a great tool to know about! That will save me some trouble searching for new parts.
For exporting to Fusion, surely you can just export STEP rather and import that directly in fusion? I use steps for all my ECAD to MCAD
Don't shy from making your own atmic parts. Drawing a symbol and attaching a footprint is much faster (in the vast majority of cases) than searching the internet for something. (of which you don't know anything about its correctness anyway)
Nice! Was heading to bed (PST), but MUST watch this instead. Sleep can wait! Personally like EasyEDA, well integrated with jlcpcb parts. EasyEDA feels less tricky to learn than alternatives? Like the easyeda2kicad script, very helpful.
EasyEDA is a very nice tool - and I know people using it for really complicated boards.
Could you make a video about how to use an esp32-S3 's native USB to program another esp32-S3?
it would be cool if you showed us step by step how to configure it , how do i run the script?
nice video
Thanks!
I switched from Kicad to EasyEDA for this very reason.
What a pain it was finding modern parts. Maybe I'll give KiCad another go this year.
Yeah - it is pretty frustrating. Most symbols and footprints are available, but you have to a bit of searching. And I’ve got used to making them if I need to - but it’s not ideal.
Good video, but it seems from someone like myself with near absolutely zero knowledge trying to get into PCB making that no one PCB designing program does everything particularly well; or at the very least I don't fancy investing an absolute ton of time into learning all the quirks and deficiencies of all these tools 😟
I would start with EasyEDA - having the symbols and footprints all wired up and ready to go is really nice. Switching to KiCad is pretty straightforward once you’ve done a few PCBs. But there’s nothing wrong with just using whichever tool you feel comfortable with.
Its not that hard. There is a pretty good book for learning ikcad out there called "kicad like a pro" makes it really easy to learn.
Thanks for the video! I'm wasting much time to find the right footprints for many parts. But why don't you export as STEP file that can be imported directly to Fusion360? I've never encountered problems with STEP export so far. Or is this a special problem with the converted LCSC parts? An advantage of STEP files is that they aren't triangulated and can easily be used to project the PCB shapes to your 2D sketches.
EasyEDA Pro has 3d export that works well.
Interesting - I don’t know many people who actually pay for EasyEDA.
pro version is also free for personal and commercail use. I have been using a design process where I design the pcb outline in 3d software together with the enclosure and then export a dxf of the pcb face from there. Import it in EasyEda PRO and use it as board outline. Then do the pcb , export 3d pcb back to 3d software and check for clearence errors. reiterate if needed. @@atomic14
Hi
Can you please detail how can we run the Python script and where did you fill in "easyeda2kicad --symbol --footprint --lcsc_id= - - - - - - " ?
In your video is perceptible you're using VS Code but it lacks, at least for me, the information about the procedure.
As long as I can see, after installing Python and easyeda2kicad in my win 11 PC, it ended up at
C:\Users\ - - - - - - \AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\easyeda2kicad
After some trying out I concluded I need the above information.
Can you please give me a hand ?
Thanks in advance,
Can you share more information about your project @ 0:44
Video coming soon. Waiting for the PCBs…
@atomic14 Excited to see your project! Currently working on something similar, looking forward to following your idea.
What about Spice simulation? Please make a proper video which shows how we simulate the circuit before buillding it.