kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[easyw <easyw@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> You can insert an arbitrary "Free models" on Altium (so there is no footprint association)
that is not possible, useful in kicad
> Their process suggest that you create a enclosure with a "sub-assembly" that is the board shape.
that sub-assembly would be in kicad i.e. a board edge footprint (some 
users do it)...
> That "sub-assembly" can be snap to be the board shape .. so the enclosure (the other "sub-assembly") will be automatically aligned to the board..
if you have anchor holes for the pcb board, the best thing is to 
associate the enclosure to one of these holes or, more complicated, you 
can build a
footprint with the holes (your sub-assembly model) and align that to the 
enclosure... that your choice
If you don't have holes you can design your sub-assembly (I use DXF 
import directly from manufacturer's data) and align enclosure (that I 
normally download from manufacturer's site in STEP) to that footprint 
sub-assembly

Anyway, for kicad, the alignment has to be done / it is easier to be 
done obviously in MCAD environment (I would suggest FreeCAD with StepUp 
Footprint Loader)
But it is very reasonable because you are talking of enclosure, which 
means you are interested in MCAD aspects of your design :)
That is the option I use also for models

Anyway that is the way I use almost from 2013 to do my ECAD MCAD design, 
and once you get the idea to switch from MCAD to ECAD, everything will 
became easier and faster

Consider that my approach has a very little impact in kicad code, but 
can give the users a nice mechanical feature and everything with an open 
source chain

Maurice

On 25/02/2016 20.03, Mário Luzeiro wrote:
> I watched the video,
>
> You can insert an arbitrary "Free models" on Altium (so there is no footprint association)
> Their process suggest that you create a enclosure with a "sub-assembly" that is the board shape.
> That "sub-assembly" can be snap to be the board shape .. so the enclosure (the other "sub-assembly") will be automatically aligned to the board..
>
> This is a different process...not directly supported on KiCad, but you can achieve similar results with KiCad and other MCAD software (or with your stepUp)
>
>
> Mario Luzeiro
>
> ________________________________________
> From: easyw [easyw@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 25 February 2016 16:56
> To: Mário Luzeiro; Wayne Stambaugh; kicad-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Kicad-developers] VRML export
>
> have a look here
> https://youtu.be/kIkx86l5s_M
>
> if you change
> SolidWorks with FreeCAD
> Altium with KiCad
>
> and add StepUp tools to link STEP (MCAD) and VRML (ECAD) models
> you can do a similar video with same result :)
>
> and all in open source environment ;)
>
> Maurice