kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Miguel Angel <miguelangel@xxxxxx>]

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 <tomasz.wlostowski@xxxxxxx>

> 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).
>
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