pcb-board

name	pcb-board
model	claude-opus-4-7
description	Board setup operations — dimensions, outline, layers, mounting holes, text (KiCAD MCP tools 5-13)
disable-model-invocation	true
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob
argument-hint	["info | outline | layers | holes | text"]

Board Setup Operations

Map KiCAD MCP board setup tools to our project's programmatic PCB generation infrastructure.

Overview

Board setup is managed across multiple files in scripts/generate_pcb/. The board is generated programmatically -- never edited manually in KiCad.

Current Board Specs

Property	Value
Dimensions	160 x 75 mm
Layer count	4 (F.Cu, In1.Cu, In2.Cu, B.Cu)
Thickness	1.6 mm
Corner radius	6 mm
Mounting holes	6x M2.5
FPC slot cutout	3 x 24 mm at center-right

Layer Stack

Layer	Name	Purpose
0	F.Cu	Front copper -- face buttons + charging LEDs
4	In1.Cu	Inner layer 1 -- GND plane
6	In2.Cu	Inner layer 2 -- +3V3/+5V power planes
2	B.Cu	Back copper -- all electronics, ICs, connectors

Steps

1. Depending on the argument:

   • info: Show board dimensions, layer stack, and stats:

     cd /Users/pierrejonnycau/Documents/WORKS/esp32-emu-turbo && python3 -c "
     from scripts.generate_pcb import board
     print(f'Board: {board.BOARD_W} x {board.BOARD_H} mm')
     print(f'Corner radius: {board.CORNER_R} mm')
     print(f'Center: ({board.CX}, {board.CY})')
     print(f'Mounting holes (enclosure coords): {board.MOUNT_HOLES_ENC}')
     print(f'FPC slot: {board.FPC_SLOT_W}x{board.FPC_SLOT_H}mm at enc{board.FPC_SLOT_ENC}')
     print(f'Display area: {board.DISPLAY_W}x{board.DISPLAY_H}mm')
     "
     

   • outline: Edit board outline in scripts/generate_pcb/board.py:

     • Function: _board_outline() (line 117)
     • Controls: BOARD_W, BOARD_H, CORNER_R constants
     • Includes the FPC slot cutout defined by FPC_SLOT_ENC, FPC_SLOT_W, FPC_SLOT_H

   • layers: View or edit the 4-layer stack:

     • Layer definitions: layers_4layer() function in scripts/generate_pcb/primitives.py (line 33)
     • Layer setup (design rules): setup_4layer() function in scripts/generate_pcb/primitives.py (line 62)

   • holes: Edit mounting hole positions:

     • Defined in MOUNT_HOLES_ENC in scripts/generate_pcb/board.py (line 39)
     • 6 positions in enclosure coordinates: (-70, 30.5), (70, 30.5), (-70, -30.5), (70, -30.5), (-25, 0), (25, 0)
     • Converted to PCB coordinates via enc_to_pcb()

   • text: Edit board text and silkscreen labels:

     • Function: _silkscreen_labels() in scripts/generate_pcb/board.py (line 167)
     • Includes project name, version, component labels

2. After changes, regenerate the PCB:

cd /Users/pierrejonnycau/Documents/WORKS/esp32-emu-turbo && python3 -m scripts.generate_pcb hardware/kicad

3. Verify with DRC:

cd /Users/pierrejonnycau/Documents/WORKS/esp32-emu-turbo && python3 scripts/drc_check.py

Key Files

File	Purpose
scripts/generate_pcb/board.py	Board outline (_board_outline, line 117), mounting holes (MOUNT_HOLES_ENC, line 39), text labels (_silkscreen_labels, line 167), component placements
scripts/generate_pcb/primitives.py	Layer stack (layers_4layer, line 33), board setup (setup_4layer, line 62), header, S-expression generators
scripts/generate_pcb/routing.py	References board geometry: BOARD_W, BOARD_H, FPC slot zone
scripts/drc_check.py	Design rule check
scripts/verify_dfm_v2.py	DFM verification
hardware/kicad/esp32-emu-turbo.kicad_pcb	Generated PCB output

Coordinate System

• Enclosure coordinates: Center origin (0, 0), X+ = right, Y+ = up
• PCB coordinates: Top-left origin (0, 0), X+ = right, Y+ = down (KiCad convention)
• Conversion: enc_to_pcb(ex, ey) returns (CX + ex, CY - ey) where CX=80.0, CY=37.5

MCP Tool Mapping

MCP Tool	Our Implementation
set_board_size	Edit BOARD_W, BOARD_H in board.py
add_board_outline	Edit _board_outline() in board.py
add_layer	Edit layers_4layer() in primitives.py
set_active_layer	N/A (generated, not interactive)
get_layer_list	Read layers_4layer() from primitives.py
get_board_info	Parse board dimensions/stats from board.py constants
get_board_2d_view	kicad-cli pcb render --output /tmp/board.png hardware/kicad/esp32-emu-turbo.kicad_pcb
add_mounting_hole	Edit MOUNT_HOLES_ENC list in board.py
add_board_text	Edit _silkscreen_labels() in board.py

Important Notes

• Never edit hardware/kicad/esp32-emu-turbo.kicad_pcb directly -- it is a generated file.
• Board dimensions are coupled with the enclosure design (hardware/enclosure/enclosure.scad). Changing board size requires updating the enclosure too.
• The FPC slot is a physical cutout in the board for the display ribbon cable. No copper, traces, or components may occupy that area.
• Inner layers (In1.Cu, In2.Cu) are primarily used as ground and power planes via zone_fill() in routing.py.