I can only say *awesome*. I supposed that you were kidding with the VB / Comic Sans... but you left me suffering for a moment...
Just one question, what's the license for GAL/geometry/tool framework?. A simple electrical engineer you said... that's quite modest! ;) 2013/9/18 Tomasz Wlostowski <[email protected]> > Dear all, > > After a long period of exhausting development, many unslept nights, > deadlines shifted several times and hundreds of liters of coffee and sweat, > we are proud to publish the initial version of the native push and shove > router for Kicad. > > Today's release wouldn't have been possible without the work of Brian, > Dick, Fabrizio, Jacobo, Javier, Jean-Pierre, Lorenzo, Miguel, Orson, > Torsten, Vesa, Wayne (order is alphabetical) and everyone else on this > mailing list. Enormous thanks for your support, ideas and your work on > making Kicad rock! > > One initial remark: this is a *work in progress* and the version that is > available right now is, politely speaking, of less than perfect quality > (especially the code and its to-be-written documentation). This of course > doesn't mean that it can't be used to design PCBs. Currently, the router is > capable of: > - routing new tracks in 45 degree regime, following the cursor trail and > walking around fixed obstacles (pads), > - placing vias, > - shoving tracks on the way of the newly created track or via, > - "springback" when the cursor is moved back, restoring the tracks that > have been affected to their original shapes, > - loop removal, > - respecting clearance and width rules defined in the Design Rules dialog. > > If you're not convinced yet, there's a demo video available: > http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=zxHDAHpR5Ls<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxHDAHpR5Ls>. > Otherwise, fetch the kicad-tom-pns branch from Launchpad [1], compile it > (same way as the "plain" GAL branch [2]), load your design and select > Edit->Interactive Router. Usage instructions are in > Documentation/pns_router.txt. > > The router is based on the GAL/View, Tool and Geometry libraries - we > believe that an advanced tool, such as the P&S will be a nice showcase of > these subsystems and a playground to test various ideas. As for the > algorithm - since there is no literature on the subject (at least I > couldn't find anything), it's the result of observing behavior of other > tools and my private research. I'm aware that everything in there could be > made better/faster/more optimal/simpler - I'm just a simple electronics > engineer, and the guys that write such tools for proprietary programs have > much more experience and better math background that me. > > There are also some great news from Orson: "This release also contains a > basic version of the drag&drop tool. It allows to move items by selecting > them and dragging to new locations. To activate the tool, it has to be > chosen from the KiCad menu (Edit->Selection Tool). Then you are able to > select single items by clicking them (in case of disambiguation you have to > choose one from pop-up menu) or draw a box to select a group of items. If > you do not like the results, you may press ESC while still dragging to > revert the operation. > We have put some efforts to make it work better in the high-contrast mode > (that means the items that are not on active layer should not be selected) > and to add smooth autopanning while dragging items or drawing the selection > box. This version does not support rotation yet, neither hotkeys (to make > it more similar to the current usage, ie. pressing 'M' to start moving), > but they are going to be included soon. For more extended undo operation, > we have to wait till the serialization of items steps in." > > Now, the less optimistic stuff: There are some bugs to be fixed and > features yet to be implemented. Sorry that the list below is longer than > the one with features, we'll be working hard with Orson on shortening it: > - We are extremely sorry, but there is no Linux version available for the > time being. Parts of the core routing algorithm were written in Visual > Basic (using, of course, the Comic Sans font) and the router interactive > operations use ActiveX controls. Our top priority now is getting these > controls ported to Linux, along with a libre version of the Comic Sans font. > - No shoving vias yet (this is to be handled by a different algorithm). > Same applies to joints between more than 2 segments or segments of > different widths, > - No dragging of existing segments and vias (this will be soon available > with the new interactive drag&drop tool that Orson is working on), > - No ratsnest (I'm working on a faster algorithm that will be also used > for topology optimization - so I couldn't use the Kicad one), > - Missing configuration dialog (selection of routing modes - do nothing, > walk around, always shove, shove on demand, stop on first obstacle, slice > obstacles, etc.), > - Missing R-click menu & hotkey support, > - Rare geometry errors (non-45 degree segments in shoved traces). Always > run DRC before submitting your Gerbers to production! > - Support for rounded-rectangle pads (currently are approximated as > rectangles) and non-orthogonal pad rotations, > - Occasional memory leaks and "choking" on unroutable situations, > - Very rare stability issues (remember: Jesus saves. Often!), > - Somewhat clumsy and undocumented code, > - Grid snapping (it's not an absolute must-have in a shape-based router > except for placing vias in regular grids, like under a BGA, but nonetheless > a nice feature), > - Loop removal sometimes fails and the old trace has to be erased by hand, > - Cleaner & tighter springback algorithm, > - Keep-out zones support, > - Better integration with pcbnew in general... > - Auto-finish mode (autorouting of the remaining part of the trace in > simple topologies). > - Fine tuning algorithm parameters, > - Missing test cases and documentation... > - ... and a ton of lame bugs, that I feel too ashamed to mention. > > Note that the router sources (and only the router, not the > geometry/tool framework/drag&drop/GAL/View code) is licensed under GPLv3+. > After discussion with the legal advisor in CERN's Knowledge Transfer group, > and with the agreement of the main developers of KiCad, we think this is > the best way of licensing this component. > > Regards, > Tom > > [1]. > https://code.launchpad.net/~**cern-kicad/kicad/kicad-pns-tom<https://code.launchpad.net/~cern-kicad/kicad/kicad-pns-tom> > [2]. > http://www.ohwr.org/projects/**cern-kicad/wiki/Kicad-gal<http://www.ohwr.org/projects/cern-kicad/wiki/Kicad-gal> > > PS. Just kidding about the missing Linux version ;-) > PS2. The branch only contains pcbnew (cvpcb and eeschema may be broken). > > ______________________________**_________________ > Mailing list: > https://launchpad.net/~kicad-**developers<https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers> > Post to : > kicad-developers@lists.**launchpad.net<[email protected]> > Unsubscribe : > https://launchpad.net/~kicad-**developers<https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers> > More help : > https://help.launchpad.net/**ListHelp<https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp> >
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