path: root/raw-wiki-dump/GitRepositories%2Fuser%2Fft%2Falpha_to_kicad



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<p>Work-in-progress repository with output of altium2kicad conversion
of the Cryptech Alpha rev03 board.</p>

<p>The conversion was done using 'convert.sh', with the Altium Designer
project files from</p>

<p>https://wiki.cryptech.is/browser/hardware/cad/rev03</p>

<p>and the altium2kicad project from</p>

<p>https://github.com/thesourcerer8/altium2kicad</p>

<h2>Current status</h2>

<p>NOTE: The latest stable KiCAD version as of this writing is 4.0.7 - it does
NOT include necessary support for stitching vias. Install KiCAD nightly build
to work with the Cryptech Alpha PCB.</p>

<p>The schematics are mostly converted. A few components do not connect with their
nets (e.g. C9 and C10 on sheet rev02_01), but maybe a manual overhaul will be
needed anyways at the end of conversion. A bigger issue is that no components
get footprints associated with them in the schema, so generating a new netlist
won't work at all. The footprints exists in some form in the PCB, so we only
need to figure out how to reference them properly in the schema.</p>

<p>All the copper layers convert reasonably well. The challenges are mostly
around filled polygons on the various layers. A python script (fix-pcb.py)
modifies parameters to get a fairly close result.</p>

<p>I'm currently looking into ensuring the drill hole sizes are right, and the
non-copper layers have been largely ignored this far.</p>

<h2>Issues</h2>

<p>Two layers (Altium Gerber files CrypTech.G1 and CrypTech.G2) have fills
that I have not been able to reproduce. I targeted not missing any copper,
accepting that the KiCAD gerber fills reach more places, so add some copper
on those layers.</p>

<p>Drill hole sizes have not been checked. KiCAD seems to add ~0.85 mil more
clearance around vias. This needs to be double checked but I'm hoping that
we can just tolerate that.</p>

<p>Importing WRL files (3D models) required some hacking of the altium2kicad
tool that I haven't been able to work on upstreaming yet. Something is still
not right here, but the board does have a fair amount of component (including
the more special ones) in KiCAD 3D view.</p>

<p>Another hack that has not been upstreamed is loading more of the source
files, IIRC to get all component footprints properly converted.</p>

<p>The KiCAD board does not pass DRC checks yet. I believe part of this is
because design rule settings aren't (fully?) imported from Altium. Need
to figure out the settings used for this project, and fix all drill sizes
I think.</p>
}}}

[[RepositoryIndex(format=table,glob=user/ft/alpha_to_kicad)]]

|| Clone `https://git.cryptech.is/user/ft/alpha_to_kicad.git` ||
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your changes will just be overwritten the next time the script runs.  Talk to your
Friendly Neighborhood Repository Maintainer if you need to change something here.

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{{{
#!html
<p>Work-in-progress repository with output of altium2kicad conversion
of the Cryptech Alpha rev03 board.</p>

<p>The conversion was done using 'convert.sh', with the Altium Designer
project files from</p>

<p>https://wiki.cryptech.is/browser/hardware/cad/rev03</p>

<p>and the altium2kicad project from</p>

<p>https://github.com/thesourcerer8/altium2kicad</p>

<h2>Current status</h2>

<p>NOTE: The latest stable KiCAD version as of this writing is 4.0.7 - it does
NOT include necessary support for stitching vias. Install KiCAD nightly build
to work with the Cryptech Alpha PCB.</p>

<p>The schematics are mostly converted. A few components do not connect with their
nets (e.g. C9 and C10 on sheet rev02_01), but maybe a manual overhaul will be
needed anyways at the end of conversion. A bigger issue is that no components
get footprints associated with them in the schema, so generating a new netlist
won't work at all. The footprints exists in some form in the PCB, so we only
need to figure out how to reference them properly in the schema.</p>

<p>All the copper layers convert reasonably well. The challenges are mostly
around filled polygons on the various layers. A python script (fix-pcb.py)
modifies parameters to get a fairly close result.</p>

<p>I'm currently looking into ensuring the drill hole sizes are right, and the
non-copper layers have been largely ignored this far.</p>

<h2>Issues</h2>

<p>Two layers (Altium Gerber files CrypTech.G1 and CrypTech.G2) have fills
that I have not been able to reproduce. I targeted not missing any copper,
accepting that the KiCAD gerber fills reach more places, so add some copper
on those layers.</p>

<p>Drill hole sizes have not been checked. KiCAD seems to add ~0.85 mil more
clearance around vias. This needs to be double checked but I'm hoping that
we can just tolerate that.</p>

<p>Importing WRL files (3D models) required some hacking of the altium2kicad
tool that I haven't been able to work on upstreaming yet. Something is still
not right here, but the board does have a fair amount of component (including
the more special ones) in KiCAD 3D view.</p>

<p>Another hack that has not been upstreamed is loading more of the source
files, IIRC to get all component footprints properly converted.</p>

<p>The KiCAD board does not pass DRC checks yet. I believe part of this is
because design rule settings aren't (fully?) imported from Altium. Need
to figure out the settings used for this project, and fix all drill sizes
I think.</p>
}}}

[[RepositoryIndex(format=table,glob=user/ft/alpha_to_kicad)]]

|| Clone `https://git.cryptech.is/user/ft/alpha_to_kicad.git` ||