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## A note about Power and Reset pins
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### Power
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On the Arduino Platform, it is not possible to categorically state that the power pins are "power inputs" or "power outputs", as that depends on exactly how you're using the Arduino. For example, if you're powering the Arduino from USB then GND, +3.3V and +5V would be power outputs and VIN would do nothing, whereas if you're powering the Arduino from a battery via your Sheild then VIN and GND are power inputs whilst +5V and +3.3V are power outputs. There are other, more esoteric possibilities too.
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On the Arduino Platform, it is not possible to categorically state that the power pins are "power inputs" or "power outputs", as that depends on exactly how you're using the Arduino. For example, if you're powering the Arduino from USB then GND, +3.3V and +5V would be power outputs and VIN would do nothing, whereas if you're powering the Arduino from a battery via your Shield then VIN and GND are power inputs whilst +5V and +3.3V are power outputs. There are other, more esoteric possibilities too.
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Regardless of the above, I needed to make a decision about what electrical type to apply to these pins. I could use something like Passive or Unspecified, but then KiCad's Electrical Rules Checker (ERC) tool would not be effective in catching errors on these pins at all, whilst using Power Output means it objects to you joining pins together (for example, joining all the GND pins into a common net) even when that's OK in some situations.
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Therefore, I have decided to use Power Input as this presents the least issues. This means if you're actually using any of the power pins as Power Outputs in your schematic, by default the ERC will complain that the relevant nets are undriven. To fix this you will need to add a special "PWR_FLAG" component to the affected net.
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Therefore, I have decided to use Power Input as this presents the least issues. This means if you're actually using any of the power pins as Power Outputs in your schematic, by default the ERC will complain that the relevant nets are undriven. To fix this you will need to add the special "PWR_FLAG" component to the affected net.
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### Reset
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Reset pins on the Arduino Platform have interesting electrical characteristics, which mean that no KiCad electrical type exactly matches their functionality. I settled on Open Collector as the nearest candidate, but unlike a true Open Collector pin on an integrated circuit, the reset pins on the Arduino Platform have an internal weak pull-up, and the reset button that can strongly pull low, so your circuit needs to be able to cope with all these situations.
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In other words, if you use the reset pin as an input to your shield then you do not need to add a pull-up (doing so will actually make it less responsive if not break it); conversely if you want to drive the reset line in order to reset the Arduino you need to ensure that you only ever pull it low - if you pull it high at the same time as an unwitting user hits the physical reset button, you've created a short between power and ground which will likely fry whatever chip is on your sheild.
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In other words, if you use the reset pin as an input to your shield then you do not need to add a pull-up (doing so will actually make it less responsive if not break it); conversely if you want to drive the reset line in order to reset the Arduino you need to ensure that you only ever pull it low - if you pull it high at the same time as an unwitting user hits the physical reset button, you've created a short between power and ground which will likely fry whatever chip is on your shield.
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