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Project Setup

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MorrisYLin edited this page Sep 25, 2025 · 12 revisions

Repo Structure

A "commit" is simply a snapshot of a project at a certain time. If I add symbols to a schematic or components to a layout, those will be reflected as changes to the project files. I can then save those changes of the schematic, project, or pcb files into a commit.

Think of branches as literally "branching" off of a particular commit of a project to add their own changes for features, fixes, etc.

  • main is a blank template for you branch off of for your own onboarding project. You'll all have the same start, but do your own implementations, hence why you should branch off of main.
  • Morris_Lin is my implementation of the onboarding project. Feel free to reference it

You will create your own branch using the format firstName_lastName as your submission of the onboarding project.

You can see the branches for this repo here: branch screenshot

Cloning and Branching

  1. Find a directory where you'd like to keep this project. I keep my KiCAD projects in .../Documents/KiCAD/9.0/projects but keep it anywhere you like for organization. Read these 7 steps and clone the repo using git clone --recursive https://github.com/ut-ras/rm_electrical_onboarding.git This will create another folder rm_electrical_onboarding, a copy of the repo to work on locally.
    • Ctrl + V won't work to paste, instead right click to do it
  2. Create a branch for your project. By default, cloning a repo puts you into the main branch. Since you're already in the main branch, create a branch off of main with something like git branch Morris-Lin, filling in your first and last name. This branch will serve as your submission for onboarding.
  3. Since I have my example branch Morris_Lin it can help to have the repo locally multiple times. Do step 1 again, in a different directory. Then in this second repo use git switch Morris_Lin to see my implementation of the project. You can open this project and your own project at the same time to cross reference.

git switch is used to swap between existing branches.
git branch is used to branch off of whatever the current branch is. You can see it next to your empty terminal line, something like (main) or Morris_Lin

File structure

image
  • .kicad_sch files are the schematic files. These will define how you want your PCB to function.
  • .kicad_pcb files are the PCB layout files. These contain your physical design of the PCB.
  • .kicad_pro files are the project file. Always open KiCAD projects using this file, otherwise KiCAD cannot pair schematic and PCB files together!

KiCad Plugins

There are two plugins for KiCad that we use. Open KiCad and hit "Plugin and Content Manager" on the project viewer.

image

Ibom

On the KiCad official repository, get the "Interactive Html Bom", which is useful for fabrication.

JLCPCB tools

This plugin contains a whole bunch of tools for exporting to JLCPCB. Install it following the directions here.

Context

For a quick overview of the design process, see these slides from the earlier year.

Next Steps

See the Characterization page

Ask in the Discord thread if you have questions!

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