1) How to download and "install" (copy over) the necessary (and pre-compiled) freeroute.jar ("freeRouting.jar") binary.
2) (Briefly): how to use the auto-router to route a couple boards (1 trivial, 1 less trivial), including back-importing the routed boards back into KiCad.
Note: the crux of this demo is done by 6:00! By this point I have shown how to install the freeroute.jar executable file and use the auto-router to route a board! Feel free to stop at this point.
3) How to download the KiCad source code and demo project files (ex: to use as demo tools to test the autorouter).
4) How to work around a minor bug in the autorouter that sometimes makes it not allow you to output the routed board .ses file.
5) How to rename board layers.
6) How to do manual board cleanup, including DRC (Design Rules Check), manual trace modifications and dragging, Interactive Router Settings (very brief mention), board ground fill (brief), and how to fix ground fill problems such as floating fill islands which need to be connected via a few vias and traces.
7) The end-result is a nice, auto-routed board (auto-routing is so convenient!) with minimal hand-cleanup ready to be sent off to the manufacturer.
I'm super happy to have the auto-router working so that I can use it for quick-and-dirty jobs that require a faster design speed and less manual work at the sacrifice of a bit of perfection.
Quadcopter navigation algorithm SIL test (live video).
In mechatronics and control theory, testing is an important part of controller validation. You need to run experiments to prove that your software/analog/digital controller, actuator, algorithm, etc, does what it’s supposed to do. Experiments, however, can be expensive, time-consuming, difficult,
dangerous, or even impossible to test under all conditions. Therefore, you can do Hardware in the Loop (HIL) testing and Software in the Loop (SIL) testing/simulation to aid the testing, verification and validation of your controller without having to resort to pure, fully-physical testing with actual products under actual conditions.
I just bought this Velleman desoldering iron/vacuum (desoldering pump) for ~$10 on Amazon. It worked so well I wanted to share my review directly, since it could have saved me dozens of hours and tons of frustration before when I was newer to soldering and trying to desolder through-hole parts with lots of legs, such as switches. It is SUCH a great value and would have prevented me from destroying or damaging several circuit boards in the past!
