Making Your Own Gerbers
James B
jamesbowman
Long talk
Time
June 21, 2025 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Location
Talk Track Two
Outline:
- Python and computational geometry using shapely
- The Gerber format
- Design rules for PCBs
- River routing
- Board #1: Dazzler
- Neat thing: signal permutation
- Returning to basics: breadboard replacement
- Generating a whole board just from a list of parts
- No autorouter, just a very simple topology
- Example: chicken coop computer
- Example: a giant clock made with a for loop
- A rethink, PCBs give us too much geometric freedom
- What if we used a cell-based layout, cough, Factorio
- Dual layer hex grids?
- The hex grid gauge can be well-matched to the design rules
- Each component's pads are routed to the hex grid, examples
- From then on it's cell-based routing through the grids, pretty simple
- Example: TermDriver 2
- The future? More grid-based layout, a sketch of a future flow
