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tencuatoi OP t1_ja72l8u wrote

Reply to comment by _DEATH_STR0KE_ in Not much but I made this from scratch by tencuatoi

You should try it. It's not that hard.

I didn't know how to design a PCB too. My soldering skills is really bad, you can see it in the picture. But learn enough to make a macropad is not really difficult.

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Trigun3k0 t1_ja7a61e wrote

Simple little beautiful piece. Any recommendation for start with pcb design? I have soldering and programming skills but never felt comfortable in pcb design or anything electrical related :/

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tencuatoi OP t1_ja7drfx wrote

I used KiCad for designing the PCB.

To start, you should learn the basic first. Youtube have a lot of that kind of video:

  • Schematic: Add Symbols, Labels, Wiring, Named Symbol reference, Assign Footprint (Remember to select the right footprint)
  • Board: Layers, Fill zone, Wiring.

Then you should learn how a keyboard works:

  • Learn how Microcontroller sends a key to computer
  • Keyboard matrix, how Microcontroller knows which key is pressed.
  • Make sure that your Microcontroller has enough pins for the matrix.
  • Learn how to use Diode

After that you can get back to KiCad and make a keyboard PCB. At this time, the hardest part is wiring, you will learn when you do it.

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stew_going t1_ja9jzdv wrote

This is so cool, thanks for sharing! Once designed, how did you get your pcb made? Does KiCad offer a manufacturing service?

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tencuatoi OP t1_jaar5pi wrote

Jlcpcb is good. but I use a local manufacturing service.

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angerofmars t1_jaeif60 wrote

Are you living in VN or abroad? If you happen to live in VN can you share the name of the service you used?

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Yornn t1_ja7vkh4 wrote

ai03 has a great set of articles explaining the 101 of making a keyboard pcb amn using KiCad. I started designing my own PCB a couple weeks ago and it was very helpful.

Understanding or knowning what components to use and why they have the value they have is the challenging part for me. Sometimes it's detailed in the documentation of the integrated circuit, but sometimes you just have to look for what others on internet did.

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luisdamed t1_ja92qw8 wrote

Good resources! Thanks for sharing. I'm also making my first macropad, but already ordered the PCBs.. anyways the tips from those articles will be useful for the next one.

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Nilzzz t1_ja7c17g wrote

I'd suggest KiCad, which is what OP used as well. It's free, and not really difficult and has a large community.

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AhoyWilliam t1_ja7kj7b wrote

For what it's worth, once you have the circuit designed the circuit layout software can often route all of the tracks for you within parameters that you define (eg. Key placement, track and pad dimensions, minimising wire bonds to bridge over tracks etc...)

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enjoilife1128 t1_ja865am wrote

Digi-Key’s Youtube channel has a great tutorial series going through the whole process of PCB design with KiCAD. Highly recommend for someone just starting out.

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