Rachele Didero's site Welcome to Rocky 96's HTMAA world

Welcome to Rocky96's
HTMAA world

A free, fully responsive (?) font of inspiration (?) designed by Rachele Didero for How to Make (Almost) Anything Course @ MIT Media Lab
and released for free .

October 12, 2023

Week 4

electronics design

- KiCad and XIAO RP2040 -

Airstrip One

design a development board to interact and communicate with an embedded microcontroller

1. I download KiCad and I install the library fab.kicad_sym


2. I create a new project on KiCad and I insert Module_XIAO RP-2040 that I selected from fab.kicad_sym library


3. I see now in my KiCad Schematic Editor a XIAO RP-2040


4. I add in the Schematic Editor a Vertical Conector Header with 8 holes of 2.54mm (Conn_PinHeader_1x08_P2.54mm_Vertical_THT_D1mm). I can find the Connector in the fab.kicad_sym library


5. I see now in my KiCad Schematic Editor a XIAO RP-2040 and a Vertical Connector


6. I draw two wire to establish electrical connection between XIAO RP-2040 and the Vertical Connector. 1-1 and 2-2. To draw a wire I use the icon selected on the right in the following image.


7. After my project is complete on Schematic Editor, I can now work on PCB. I first go on PCB Editor and I "Update PCB from Schematic".


8. I see now my electronic design on PCB. If I want to add more wires, I can trace them using the icon selected on the right in the following image.


9. I can now export my design as a SVG if I want to produce it.


10. The following are the selections I used when I exported the SVG:


11. After I finish my first electronic design, I decide I want to design a more complex structure. Since I'm interested in textile, fashion tech, and wearable technologies I want to reproduce a simple Arduino LilyPad, that you can see in the following picture. The LilyPad Arduino is designed for e-textiles and wearables projects. It can be sewn to fabric and similarly mounted power supplies, sensors and actuators with conductive thread.


12. I start by drawing a cirlce and I insert the Module_XIAO RP-2040 in the middle top, so the USB stays on the border.


13. I then go to KiCad Schematic Editor and I add to my project single Conector Headers with 1 holes of 2.54mm (Conn_PinHeader_1x01_P2.54mm_Vertical_THT_D1mm). I add 14 Connector Headers in total, and I draw a connection to the 14 pins in the Module_XIAO RP-2040. I also add a restart botton (Sw1).


14. I then go on PCB Editor and I update PCB from Schematic. I then reorganize in the circle the Headers and the botton that I place in the middle of the circle.