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

bash
1# Locate KiCad project files
2find hw/LEDDimmer -name "*.kicad_*" -type f
3
4# Current project structure
5hw/LEDDimmer/
6├── led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_sch    # Main schematic
7├── led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_pcb    # PCB layout (when created)
8└── led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_pro    # Project settings

Read Schematic Structure

bash
1# View schematic header and metadata
2head -50 hw/LEDDimmer/led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_sch
3
4# Find all component references
5grep -E "^\s+\(property \"Reference\"" hw/LEDDimmer/led_dimmer_8ch.kicad_sch

Key Concepts

WARNING: Comment Syntax

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

kicad
1# GOOD - Hash comments work
2# Power regulation section
3
4; BAD - Semicolons are NOT comments, they become part of the data

Common Patterns

Adding a Component

kicad
1(symbol (lib_id "Device:R")
2  (at 100 50 0)
3  (unit 1)
4  (property "Reference" "R1" (at 100 45 0))
5  (property "Value" "10k" (at 100 55 0))
6  (property "Footprint" "Resistor_SMD:R_0603_1608Metric" (at 100 50 0))
7)

Creating a Net Connection

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

Design Guidelines

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