Maker Summer School: Printed Circuit Board Design

### Join us for Maker Summer School! In this four-part summer series, you can learn how to design your own printed circuit board using the free open source (FOSS) software package KiCad.

Over four evening sessions, FabLab NK Manager Graham will take you on a gentle dive into the typically hidden-world of everyday electronics and help you start to make your own. From LED ‘blinkies’, to synthesisers, mini-games consoles, keyboards and even PCB jewelry, we will take a look at a series of example projects that we’ve produced in the lab over the last year and use those as learning tools and jumping-off points for your own designs.

Modern printed circuit board design is an art form that brings together engineering and artistic perspectives. Using the high-precision manufacturing capabilities of fabrication houses, you can treat a board as your canvas and techniques such as masking, silkscreening, copper pours and drilling as your paint palette, allowing you to produce highly original and cost-effective individual designs.

And of course we’ll learn some electronics too as a side effect :)

10.09 Session 1 : Printed Design for Beginners

• “Hello World”: laying out a PCB LED ‘blinky’
• Through-hole vs surface mount designs and component ‘footprint’ choices
• Checking your design and uploading to a fabrication house
• Introduction to our starter projects: Hagiwo Mixer, Trigg and Torn

17.09 Session 2: All About Schematics

• Creating (and copying!) schematics
• Performing an electrical rules check (ERC)
• From schematic to board
• Assisted individual project time

24.09 Session 3: Individual Projects and Advanced Topics

• Make your own custom symbol and footprints
• Routing traces and tips and tricks
• Round-tripping: from KiCad to Inkscape and back with Trigg
• Assisted individual project time

1.10 Session 4: Advanced Topics and Fabrication

• Beyond 2-layer boards
• Designing to mill it yourself (MIY)
• Fabrication with JLCPCB: Tips and Tricks
• Assisted individual project time

Note: While it's possible to take just one session, beginners should take Session 1 to ensure they understand the basics of printed design.