3D PCB visualization

Project
1

Hi,
very cool software - however files format is a nightmare ;).
I am the creator of the FreeCAD-PCB add-on that allows you to import PCBs into FreeCAD. I added support for LibrePCB - from now (if anyone is interested in this topic;)) it is possible to load boards directly from the LibrePCB to FreeCAD - for example to create a cover, etc. FreeCAD and FreeCAD-PCB are completely free.

All suggestions and information about errors are welcome.

FreePCB_FreeCAD-PCB
FreePCB_FreeCAD-PCB1729×877 126 KB

2

Hi,

Very nice! Thanks for creating and sharing this tool! :smiley:
That’s indeed pretty useful as long as there’s no 3D functionality integrated in LibrePCB.

3

Hi @marmni, that’s nice!

Unfortunately I can’t get it to run. I use FreeCAD 0.18 and installed “pcb” through the addon manager.

I then created a new project, switched to the “Printed Circuit Board” workbench and chose “File > Import”. There, I picked my project .lpp-file. This results in an error message:

 Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/home/danilo/.FreeCAD/Mod/pcb/PCBbrd.py", line 30, in <module>
    import builtins
<type 'exceptions.ImportError'>: No module named builtins
4

Ah, I just realized that there’s a warning printed when switching to the workbench:

PCB Workbench: Error. Minimum required Python version: 3.6.

I use the FreeCAD FlatPak package which apparently ships an old version of Python. Maybe you could change the log level of that message from a warning to an error, so that it’s visible in the main window as well, and not just in the terminal?

5

It seems that Python 3.7 should be avaialble :confused: From the Python shell inside FreeCAD:

>>> [d for d in os.listdir("/usr/bin/") if 'python' in d]
['python3.7m-config', 'python3.7-config', 'python3.7', 'python3', 'python3-config', 'python3.7m']
6

Hi,
thanks for feedback. For sure you have FC0.18 without support for python 3.6 (FC >= 18.4 as I remember) - but from now on it is not a problem.
I have added support for python 2.7 (FC 0.18 is still required): https://github.com/marmni/FreeCAD-PCB/tree/testing (this is testing version - at the moment not available in addon manager). Tested on debian with FC_0.18 and python 2.7.

A supported version of Python can be found in the FC console.
fc_python

7

Nice :slight_smile:

2020-02-11-221831_1438x1063_scrot
2020-02-11-221831_1438x1063_scrot1438×1063 99.4 KB

Assigning Packages seems to be a bit buggy though, probably due to Python 2 issues.

In my opinion you shouldn’t waste much time on Python support though, the packaging issue I’m having will resolve itself in the future.

8

Hi,
you are right - I missed some errors. On github you will find update.

9

hi,
I am wondering, it should be more than “3D PCB visualization”. It should be possible to create enclosures and boxes and other things based on PCB data, right?
rgds Gerd