I'm sorry if this is clearly stated elsewhere, but I searched the site and used the search engine but couldn't find anything.
I have an idea for a new shield for Arduino, but want to design the PCB in software first. I was wondering if there is a template file for an arduino shield (the dimensions of the pcb and the pins that connect it to the Arduino.) If there is a file I can use then there is no sense drawing it from scratch and wasting the effort.
Thanks!
PS - what suggestions do you guys have for free PCB designing software? I'm quickly growing tired of Eagle CAD.
Thanks ladyada! PS I'm a huge fan of your protoshield and adafruit.com (and your Arduino tutorials. I'm using them to teach friends the basics) so thank you everything!
I've only played with KiCad a little and am yet to actually produce something with it but I like the idea of creating "truely open" designs that don't require a non-open application to produce or modify the designs. (My main initial reason for using KiCad over pcb was because I had more success at getting it working on Mac OS X.)
follower: it's great to see your notes on KiCad. I also feel that the dependence on proprietary software (even if it's free, like Eagle) is a problem (let's hope the source for Java makes it out of Sun soon). If anyone wants to port any of the Eagle templates to KiCad or PCB or other open-source tools, that would be great. (Or can you just edit Eagle files with those programs?)
Also, I know we don't have much documentation on creating new hardware designs. If anyone wanted to write some, that would also be awesome. I'm not really a hardware guy, so I don't want to give people bad advice.
One more question guys - when wiring the reset button into the shield and into the reset pin on the arduino - is it digital low or high that triggers a reset?
I've got an eagle library that has a prototype "arduino shield" component. The idea is to make it easy to build a custom shield, which would be easier than my current method of building a custom board for most stuff.
If one was careful with the design and located some of the wire-wrap sockets, it would be possible to stack the shields (e.g. stick an RTC board on the Arduino, and stick an LCD shield on top of that).
Once I get a chance to actually etch a board and verify it actually works, I'll put it on the web and post a link.
when wiring the reset button into the shield and into the reset pin on the arduino - is it digital low or high that triggers a reset?
A low - you want your switch to short that line to ground.
If you look at the schematic, that arduino has a pull-up resistor (10k, IIRC) on the reset line to hold it high. To perform a reset, you need to hold RESET low.
(Or can you just edit Eagle files with those programs?)
My understanding is the Eagle files would need to be converted first. These part libraries seem to have been converted but I think it's been done from within Eagle with a .ulp script.
Also, I know we don't have much documentation on creating new hardware designs. If anyone wanted to write some, that would also be awesome.
At what sort of level? Specific to the Arduino or in general? Here's a link to a link to a general PCB Design tutorial.
That PCB design tutorial seems very comprehensive. I was imaging something that would complement documents like that with an Arduino-specific example. Perhaps a description of how to take LadyAda's prototyping shield and create some other shield from it. That is, the basics of opening it up in Eagle, deleting things you don't need, adding the new components to the schematic, laying them out, auto-routing etc. Not much detail on any of them, just enough to walk through the whole process.
follower: it's great to see your notes on KiCad. I also feel that the dependence on proprietary software (even if it's free, like Eagle) is a problem (let's hope the source for Java makes it out of Sun soon). If anyone wants to port any of the Eagle templates to KiCad or PCB or other open-source tools, that would be great. (Or can you just edit Eagle files with those programs?)
Also, I know we don't have much documentation on creating new hardware designs. If anyone wanted to write some, that would also be awesome. I'm not really a hardware guy, so I don't want to give people bad advice.
Bringing back the dead a bit... Did anyone convert ladyada's shield from eagle to kicad? I'm sure there's more than a few of us that could really use the basic layout for further shield development...
ok answered my own question after getting the right terms into google...
over at the yahoo group "kicad users" in the files section, library, there is a file called arduinoshield.zip - nothing fancy just holes for the headers, but it gets you started anyway...
over at the yahoo group "kicad users" in the files section, library, there is a file called arduinoshield.zip - nothing fancy just holes for the headers, but it gets you started anyway...
Thanks, I'd always meant to get around to doing that but I never did.
I've taken the liberty of making it a bit more accessible by also making it available here (Hope that's cool.): KiCad Arduino shield library
