[Plugin] Kicad - .brd Importer — 15 March 2011

giodi1973

Ciao all,
This plugin allows to import .brd files in Sketchup, and allows to view, measure and modify each component, and integrate with some mechanical stuff. The plugin attempts to build a 3D view of the board, using 3D packages imported by collada files. Many 3D shapes are available in .wings format, and can be exported in Collada format by Wings3D.

July 2001: Thanks to some feedback received in the last days, I've updated and fixed some bug that causing Sketchup bugsplats. Now it can open boards created or modified with the last versions of pcbnew. Anyway, the plugin is not 99.9% bug free, and my test coverage is related to those few boards I've created. Thus, every feedback is welcome (better together with the .brd file causing the splat).

Dec 2011: From version 2.0 kicad plugin can deal with multiple boards contained in a single .brd file. Furthermore the pcb drawing has been improved. This version has been developed and tested under Sketchup 8.x and...of course new bugs are around the corner.

June 2013: Version 2.1 supports the last changes of the .brd files (kicad 2013-03-31 BZR 4008). Not fully tested, but It seems to work pretty well.

Bye
Giovanni

ps: last version 2.1
ps2: comments and suggestions are welcomed

updated to the last version. Add the extracted folder in the folder "Components" of Sketchup installation path

giodi1973

Ciao to all,
I've updated the kicad plugin with some bugfix, and added several skp components. Many of them are imported from the wings files developed by kicad community. I also added some pcbnew library, where skp models are linked. I hope someone could find this plugin useful.
Thanks
Bye
giodi1973

ps: I've splitted the archive in two pieces due to the 4MB size constraints

watkins

Dear Giovani,

I would just like to thank you for your generosity. I don't think I will need the plugin myself, but it is good to know that there are talented people like your good self extending the range of applications for Sketchup.

Best wishes,
Bob

keithp27540

Hi Giovani,

Your script could be really useful; but unfortunately, it either gives me a Bugsplat or appears to hang when I try to import the sample.brd. I am running on WindowsXP Pro with SketchUp 7 and followed your instructions in the readme.pdf file.

I have written a ruby script that creates models of PCB's (from text extracted from an Allegro board format). I can't share this script because it was developed for use at my place of work and on company time so it is copyrighted and company property. Your script appears to have much greater functionality such as the options to draw layers and import silkscreen. I would be interested in assisting with your efforts and getting this running on SU7 but I have not been able to figure out where the error is occuring. The splat or hang is nearly instant so I don't see any syntax errors in the Ruby console window.

Keith

giodi1973

@keithp27540 said:

Hi Giovani,

Your script could be really useful; but unfortunately, it either gives me a Bugsplat or appears to hang when I try to import the sample.brd. I am running on WindowsXP Pro with SketchUp 7 and followed your instructions in the readme.pdf file.

I have written a ruby script that creates models of PCB's (from text extracted from an Allegro board format). I can't share this script because it was developed for use at my place of work and on company time so it is copyrighted and company property. Your script appears to have much greater functionality such as the options to draw layers and import silkscreen. I would be interested in assisting with your efforts and getting this running on SU7 but I have not been able to figure out where the error is occuring. The splat or hang is nearly instant so I don't see any syntax errors in the Ruby console window.

Keith

Ciao Keith,
sorry if I haven't replied before. If the script fails as soon as it starts, the problem could be related to some user privileges.
In fact the script first reads the file, then it locates the 3D models...
Pls could you tell me:

if you're running sketchup as administrator or super user or restricted user...
if sketchup hangs together with the script, or you can continue working
what's the full path of kicad models
Meanwhile, I'll try to reproduce your issue on a windows machine (I don't know if I can catch Sketchup 7, maybe
Pls be free to reply me for any suggestion.
Thanks for your feedback
Ciao
Giovanni

keithp27540

@giodi1973 said:

Ciao Keith,
sorry if I haven't replied before. If the script fails as soon as it starts, the problem could be related to some user privileges.
In fact the script first reads the file, then it locates the 3D models...
Pls could you tell me:

if you're running sketchup as administrator or super user or restricted user...

if sketchup hangs together with the script, or you can continue working

what's the full path of kicad models
Meanwhile, I'll try to reproduce your issue on a windows machine (I don't know if I can catch Sketchup 7, maybe
Pls be free to reply me for any suggestion.
Thanks for your feedback
Ciao
Giovanni

Giovanni, the script fails as soon as it starts and causes the SketchUp bugsplat. No way to keep working, as SketchUp exits when it generates the bugsplat. I am running as a user with administrator rights.

I extracted the brd file and models to "C:\Documents and Settings<user_name>\My Documents\downloads\Kicad" keeping the directory structure in your zip file.

I'll poke around some when I have a chance and see if I can assist with locating the problem.

--Keith

giodi1973

Ciao Keith,
I did some trial in order to verify some issue on Windows Platform. Pls find below the test conditions:

Microsoft Windows XP SP3
Google Sketchup 8.0.4811
User privileges restricted (no administrator)
kicad.rb and kicad folder (with inside kicad_class.rb and kicad_parser.rb) under C:\Program Files\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Plugins
kicad folder (with inside components) under C:\Program Files\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Components

With this settings, I did the following trials:

Launched Sketchup and imported sample.brd
Launched Sketchup, opened sample.skp, then imported sample.brd
In both cases the script worked perfectly. But if I perform the script two times (without restart Sketchup), the second one splats. I'll investigate,maybe the problem is some uninitialized variable in the script...
Ciao
Giovanni

giodi1973

@keithp27540 said:

@giodi1973 said:

Ciao Keith,
sorry if I haven't replied before. If the script fails as soon as it starts, the problem could be related to some user privileges.
In fact the script first reads the file, then it locates the 3D models...
Pls could you tell me:

if you're running sketchup as administrator or super user or restricted user...

if sketchup hangs together with the script, or you can continue working

what's the full path of kicad models
Meanwhile, I'll try to reproduce your issue on a windows machine (I don't know if I can catch Sketchup 7, maybe
Pls be free to reply me for any suggestion.
Thanks for your feedback
Ciao
Giovanni

Giovanni, the script fails as soon as it starts and causes the SketchUp bugsplat. No way to keep working, as SketchUp exits when it generates the bugsplat. I am running as a user with administrator rights.

I extracted the brd file and models to "C:\Documents and Settings<user_name>\My Documents\downloads\Kicad" keeping the directory structure in your zip file.

I'll poke around some when I have a chance and see if I can assist with locating the problem.

--Keith

Keith, I thought the issue could be related to some script conflict. To test this, you need to remove all the scripts except the kicad one, or to perform a new installation and adding kicad plugin only.
The test I performed have been done with a bare configuration.
Giovanni

giodi1973

Attached some screen-shot of the plugin....

This screen-shot shows the Kicad board in 2d view under pcbnew

This screen-shot shows the Kicad board imported by Sketchup

Another brd file with 3 boards

Sketchup version of the multipcb .brd file

bigelowt

Giovanni,

Thanks for this great plugin! Unfortunately, I've got a brd that I'm having trouble importing...

netduinopluslayout.zip

If you have a moment to check it out, that would be great.

Cheers!

Troy

giodi1973

@bigelowt said:

Giovanni,

Thanks for this great plugin! Unfortunately, I've got a brd that I'm having trouble importing...

[attachment=0:r4y89nzm]netduinopluslayout.zip[/attachment:r4y89nzm]

If you have a moment to check it out, that would be great.

Cheers!

Troy

Ciao Troy,
I've checked your file but it looks a binary format not recognized by kicad. Even if the filetype is .brd, the internal structure is different. This is why it can't be imported from my plugin. Which kind of ecad you have used to build it? Maybe it could be any converter around the net.
Pls let me know for any help...
Ciao
Giovanni

hmuller2

Hi ,
when importing any brd files (4 ... 10 layers) in Sketchup 8 Pro I always get the error message "PCBNEW-BOARD missing not closing properly". Maybe this plugin was an idea for the KiCad project http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite but not followed up since march 2011 ?

giodi1973

@hmuller2 said:

Hi ,
when importing any brd files (4 ... 10 layers) in Sketchup 8 Pro I always get the error message "PCBNEW-BOARD missing not closing properly". Maybe this plugin was an idea for the KiCad project http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite but not followed up since march 2011 ?

Ciao hmuller2,
could you attach the .brd file where you have encountered this error message? You can send it by email too...
Thanks
Ciao
Giovanni