Simple Kicad For Simple Vintage Computer Hobbyists: Part 3 (Replacement Keyboard Design) [TCE #0586]
27Thanks to #PCBWAY for their ongoing support! http://www.pcbway.com/
Let's try to design a brand new keyboard for a Soviet-era computer that's using a "foiled lavsan" (фольгированный лавсан) membrane.
The files for this design can be found here:
https://github.com/0ddjob/UMPK-R_Computer
In this video we'll:
[1] Design a new keyboard using Cherry MX key switches;
[2] Customise a DIN41612 (2.54mm) footprint to fit a Soviet СНП58 (2.5mm) connector (1:19:23);
[3] Design a cutout in the board to fit the speaker (1:15:26);
[4] Bulk move text between PCB layers (1:25:29);
[5] Use custom grid spacing to easily align key switches (0:58:20);
[6] Use an auto router plug-in to quickly generate the traces (1:27:40);
[7] Generate the fabrication files & order from PCBWAY (1:29:00).
Disclaimer: I'm not a Kicad super-user, I'm not a circuit design guru, I'm just a simple vintage computer hobbyist who needs simple PCBs from time to time.
0:00:00 ... Intro & reason for the design
0:06:41 ... Starting the schematic
0:17:58 ... Schematic almost done
0:21:30 ... The СНП58 connector (almost a DIN41612, but not quite)
0:31:23 ... Assigning footprints
0:43:58 ... Starting the PCB design
0:58:20 ... Using custom grid spacing to align key switches
1:02:10 ... Trying to figure out how to design the speaker cut out
1:15:26 ... Properly designing the speaker cut out
1:17:30 ... 3D view
1:19:23 ... Customising the DIN41612 footprint
1:25:29 ... Moving key switch names from FAB to SILKSCREEN
1:27:40 ... Running Freerouting & filling in ground plane
1:29:00 ... Ordering from PCBWAY
1:31:04 ... Channel outro & thanks
I'm using Kicad 9.0 on a 2022 MacBook Air (M2 with 24GB RAM) running macOS 15.3.2.
Application: KiCad PCB Editor arm64 on arm64
Version: 9.0.0, release build
Platform: macOS Sequoia Version 15.3.2 (24D81), 64 bit, Little endian, wxMac
OpenGL: Apple, Apple M2, 2.1 Metal - 89.3
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
https://karlcasey.bandcamp.com/
/ @whitebataudio