kicad-hs

This is a Haskell library for reading and writing Kicad design files (currently only .kicad_pcb files). It also includes a handy utility for replicating parts of a layout.

Installation

Install a Haskell toolchain.

$ git clone https://github.com/bgamari/kicad-hs
$ cd kicad-hs
$ cabal install 

Using kicad-replicate

The kicad-replicate utility provides a convenient way to reuse a part of a layout across multiple sub-schematics of a hierarchical design.

The utility takes a few inputs

• a YAML configuration file (kicad-replicate.yaml) which defines the regions to clone
• a netlist file (.net) used to determine component names
• the Kicad PCB design file (.kicad_pcb)

The configuration file looks something like,

pcb-file: my-design.kicad_pcb
netlist-file: my-design.net
units:
  - template: /top/gated-integ-unit-b/integ2/
    trace-regions:
      - [[248, 87.0], [297, 106.5]]
      - [[248, 107.0], [297, 126.5]]
    clones:
      - sheet: /top/gated-integ-unit-b/integ1/
        offset: [0, -20]
      - sheet: /top/gated-integ-unit-a/integ1/
        offset: [0, 41.5]
      - sheet: /top/gated-integ-unit-a/integ2/
        offset: [0, 61.5]

This configures kicad-replicate to create clones of the components in the /top/gated-integ-unit-b/integ2/ subschematic, changing their reference designators to reflect those of the subschematics given in the clones section. Each clone is translated by the amount given in the clones.offset field.

Moreover, the optional trace-regions section specifies a region of traces to be replicated.