Blog
Freecad Make
Sunday, April 13, 2025 in Blog
3 minute read
Github Repo Background If you’re new to FreeCAD scripting, start with this guide on setting up FreeCAD on Linux. Introduction I’ve recently been working on a waveguide assembly for a time-domain reflectometer (TDR), designed in OpenSCAD …
A Guide to FDTD Simulation with OpenEMS: Setup on Linux
Sunday, November 17, 2024 in Blog
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3 minute read
OpenEMS is an open-source Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulator that has seen some significant adoption. As I go through the setup for the second time, I’m noting down all the steps, common pitfalls, and useful resources to help others get …
System Diagrams / Schematics
Sunday, September 01, 2024 in Blog
6 minute read
Most designs start with a sketch of some type– be it on a napkin, whiteboard, a quick CAD model, or scribbled in the air. When dealing with designs that involve multiple separately developed components, a system diagram (sometimes referred to …
Device Control GUI and Binary Distribution
Sunday, June 23, 2024 in Blog
7 minute read
Abstract Built a basic GUI wrapping a CLI and packaged it into a standalone executable to control embedded software updating and diagnostics. Firmware Updating GUI Background & Goal We’ve been working with an agricultural fire prevention …
KiCAD Coordinate System
Sunday, June 16, 2024 in Blog
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4 minute read
I’ve found the KiCAD coordinate system to be confusing. Here’s what I had to learn while building the JigsApp system generally and the kicad-testpoints plugin specifically. The origin and axis settings are global preferences for the PCB …
KiCAD 8 Makefile
Tuesday, June 04, 2024 in Blog
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2 minute read
KiCAD 7 introduced the CLI tool which made creating a design release insanely easy. There are other great tools that met the need before like KiBot and KiKit but having the functionality in the main line release is so much nicer. I wrote a post on my …
KiCAD Testpoints Plugin
Tuesday, June 04, 2024 in Blog
2 minute read
Over the past few months I’ve been working on turning the internal tools we’ve developed at EOI/HEO for various projects into a new company. We recently launched TheJigsApp to make the design and manufacturing of test jigs fast and …
KiCAD 8 Contributor Shirt
Tuesday, May 21, 2024 in Blog
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less than a minute
KiCAD 8 has been released and they were kind enough to send us a contributor shirt! It’s amazing how much the tool has improved over the past five years. I’m looking forward to the API based version to be released even though it’s …
KiCAD Custom DRC Rules
Monday, October 30, 2023 in Blog
less than a minute
I got a board sent back by JLCPCB the other day due to a DRC rule I haven’t come across before. The rule is: If the copper area is less than 30% of the outer layers then the trace-trace space should be at least 0.15mm. This is in contrast to …
Pin 1 Markings and PCB Assembly
Monday, October 23, 2023 in Blog
3 minute read
Most pick and place files are programmed by hand. Remember this and repeat it to yourself whenever you’re checking your files for PCBA manufacturing. There’s a great talk by Chris Denny from KiCON 2019 where he discusses this issue in …