KiCad Skill

Designs PCB schematics and layouts for VanDaemon hardware projects, primarily the ESP32-based 8-channel LED dimmer. KiCad 7+ uses S-expression format for all files. The project follows automotive-grade design practices for reliability in vehicle environments.

Quick Start

Find Hardware Project Files

Locate KiCad project files

find hw/LEDDimmer -name ".kicad_" -type f

Current project structure

hw/LEDDimmer/ ├── led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_sch # Main schematic ├── led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_pcb # PCB layout (when created) └── led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_pro # Project settings

Read Schematic Structure

View schematic header and metadata

head -50 hw/LEDDimmer/led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_sch

Find all component references

grep -E "^\s+(property "Reference"" hw/LEDDimmer/led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_sch

Key Concepts

Concept Format Example

Comments

prefix only

Power section

Component reference (property "Reference" "R1")

Resistor R1

Pin connection (wire (pts ...))

Net connection

Symbol instance (symbol (lib_id "...")

Component placement

Net label (label "VCC" ...)

Named net

WARNING: Comment Syntax

KiCad does NOT support semicolon comments. Use # for comments in KiCad files.

GOOD - Hash comments work

Power regulation section

; BAD - Semicolons are NOT comments, they become part of the data

Common Patterns

Adding a Component

(symbol (lib_id "Device:R") (at 100 50 0) (unit 1) (property "Reference" "R1" (at 100 45 0)) (property "Value" "10k" (at 100 55 0)) (property "Footprint" "Resistor_SMD:R_0603_1608Metric" (at 100 50 0)) )

Creating a Net Connection

(wire (pts (xy 100 50) (xy 120 50))) (label "PWM_CH0" (at 110 50 0))

Design Guidelines

Parameter Requirement Reason

Trace width (power) ≥0.5mm Handle 2A per channel

Trace width (signal) ≥0.25mm Manufacturing tolerance

Via size 0.8mm/0.4mm Thermal dissipation

Clearance ≥0.2mm Automotive reliability

Copper weight 2oz Current handling

See Also

• patterns - Schematic and PCB patterns

• workflows - Design and export workflows

Related Skills

• platformio skill - Firmware for ESP32 hardware

• docker skill - Build automation for production