Advanced PCB Design with KiCad: Tips and Tricks

Seth Hillbrand

Lead Developer
KiCad Design Services

Amit Bahl

CRO
Sierra Circuits

KiCad is an open-source PCB design tool to build complex, multilayer layouts while ensuring electrical integrity. With features like schematic capture, layout creation, and 3D visualization, KiCad provides a comprehensive solution for circuit design.

In this webinar, you will learn tips and tricks to create efficient PCB designs with KiCad.

How to streamline your advanced PCB design with KiCad

KiCad’s Eeschema tool lets you easily create schematic diagrams and place components. You can split the schematic into multiple sheets if you’re working on a complex design. This hierarchical structure divides larger circuits into smaller sub-circuits. You can interconnect them using hierarchical pins and labels.

This open-source EDA tool has extensive component footprint libraries, minimizing the need to create footprints from scratch. The Symbol Editor further enables you to customize component symbols with precise control over pin placement and graphical representation.

KiCad’s electrical rule checker (ERC) flags design issues, such as unconnected pins, missing connections, and overlapping traces. This real-time feedback helps you detect errors early. Additionally, you can apply custom design rules to meet specialized requirements, such as impedance control for high-speed signals.

A key feature that sets KiCad apart is its push-and-shove routing. This mode allows you to route new traces while automatically adjusting existing traces and components. As you drag and place new traces, the tool dynamically pushes other traces out of the way to make room for new lines.

KiCad offers a robust signal integrity analysis solution. This feature helps you avoid signal reflections, skew, and impedance mismatches.

Furthermore, the 3D Raytracing mode provides a comprehensive 3D view of your PCB. This visualization assists you in verifying component placement, spacing, and other physical constraints.

In this webinar, KiCad’s layout experts will guide you through the advanced techniques and best practices for designing a PCB with KiCad.

Webinar agenda:

• KiCad PCB Editor for design rule management
• Sierra Circuits’ KiCad quote plugin for instant PCB cost estimation
• Component placement tips
• Signal integrity analysis and Raytracing mode (3D view)

Meet the speakers

Seth Hillbrand, Lead Developer at KiCad Design Services

Seth is a IPC CID-certified design engineer with over two decades of experience in systems design, manufacturing and testing. He has worked in both government and industry, designing systems that meet critical functioning goals. His completed projects span a range of demanding requirements. From high frequency electronic warfare counter measures to low-noise cryogenic readout to high altitude HF communications relays, Seth has designed circuits that exceed customer goals and are embedded for years.

Amit Bahl, CRO at Sierra Circuits

Amit Bahl, widely recognized as the PCB Guy, currently serves as the Chief Revenue Officer at Sierra Circuits. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from UCLA in 1997, launching his career in Silicon Valley’s tech industry. In 2009, he assumed the role of Director of Sales and Marketing at Sierra Circuits, with a dedicated focus on democratizing design for manufacturing best practices and guidelines for PCB designers and engineers.

Assuming the position of Chief Revenue Officer since 2022, Amit’s mission persists: to simplify the PCB design journey for all stakeholders. His unwavering dedication continues to drive Sierra Circuits as a trusted resource for the PCB design community.