Matthew Beckler (one half of the great Wayne & Layne duo) taught a KiCad class on Saturday at the HackPittsburgh maker space. The multi-part class will teach the participants how to design a physical circuit prototype on a breadboard, translating the breadboard design into KiCad, ordering the PCBs through a quick-turn PCB manufacturer, and then soldering up their own boards. At the end of the class, the participants will take home their own, completed circuit boards, and an official KiCad skill badge.
This sounds like a really great class, and we love to see our skill badges being put to use. If you live in the Pittsburgh area and are kicking yourself for missing the class, check out the HackPittsburgh website here, and hopefully Matthew will run another KiCad class in the future.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Diving into the Raspberry Pi RP2350, Python Survey Results and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
Hey there, thanks for the great writeup! The class was a tremendous success, and everyone had a great time while designing their own PCBs. Everyone loved the badges (as they always do), and we’re definitely going to be running the class again in a few months!
Hey there, thanks for the great writeup! The class was a tremendous success, and everyone had a great time while designing their own PCBs. Everyone loved the badges (as they always do), and we’re definitely going to be running the class again in a few months!
I wish there were a hackerspace nearby me. I’d love to teach a similar class on KiCad.
Scratch my previous comment. Looks like the Hackserspace up in Charleston (Makelab Charleston) came to fruition while I was overseas.
I think I’ll contact them about teaching a class or two.
Absolutely loved the class. A big thanks bud Matt !
Now have a cooked up a design I need your help with troubleshooting a few bugs 🙂