⚙️ WEEK 5: ELECTRONICS DESIGN

Circuit design and PCB layout. Building the nervous system of machines.

Electronics Design Documentation

Custom PCB design for the survival device using KiCad. This week focused on schematic design, footprint creation, and PCB layout with proper design rules for the Modela mill.

Documentation & Media

Design files, renderings, and PCB layout documentation

Custom footprint for xiao seeed rp2040. I used this in my schematic to have immediate access to the correct pinouts when designing the final PCB footprint and tracks
Custom footprint for xiao seeed rp2040. I used this in my schematic to have immediate access to the correct pinouts when designing the final PCB footprint and tracks.
Here is the final wired PCB for my survival device. The components are simple, an I2C capable LCD 2004a screen (01x04 gen connector), three tactile buttons, adafruit temperature sensor breakout, accelerometer, and a GPS module.
Here is the final wired PCB for my survival device. The components are simple, an I2C capable LCD 2004a screen (01x04 gen connector), three tactile buttons, adafruit temperature sensor breakout, accelerometer, and a GPS module.
After routing my tracks properly and changing to 0.4mm width (correct for the design rules of the modela mill) the DRC runs properly! There are some errors shown, but those are just unconnected tracks that I intend to connect using jumpers (because I am using a 1-layer, 1-sided copper PCB, so some connections are not geometrically possible.)
After routing my tracks properly and changing to 0.4mm width (correct for the design rules of the modela mill) the DRC runs properly! There are some errors shown, but those are just unconnected tracks that I intend to connect using jumpers (because I am using a 1-layer, 1-sided copper PCB, so some connections are not geometrically possible.)
Rendering the gerber file for cutting on the mill next week.
Rendering the gerber file for cutting on the mill next week.

PCB Layer Visualization

Interactive Gerber file viewer for PCB copper and edge layers

Copper Layer (B_Cu)

PCB trace routing for the survival device

Edge Cuts

PCB board outline and cutout paths

Design Files & Resources

KiCad project files and Gerber outputs for PCB manufacturing

Gerber Files (Manufacturing)

Survival Device-B_Cu.gbr

PCB copper layer (traces)

⬇ Download
Survival Device-Edge_Cuts.gbr

PCB edge cuts (outline)

⬇ Download

KiCad Project Files

Survival Device.kicad_pcb

PCB layout file (KiCad native format)

⬇ Download
Survival Device.kicad_sch

Schematic file (KiCad native format)

⬇ Download
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