A Modern Hybrid PCB Design Platform

CopperForge is a modern EDA platform designed to fill the void between traditional PCB design tools and manufacturing preparation, facilitating design and production workflows with a focus on real-time collaboration and extensibility. Built with Rust and the egui framework, CopperForge provides a responsive, modular environment for PCB design, visualization, and manufacturing preparation.

Key capabilities include:

• Multi-layer Gerber file import and visualization
• Interactive viewing with zoom, measurement, and layer controls
• Real-time bill of materials (BOM) with live KiCad integration
• PCB design rule checking and optimization (in progress)
• Component placement analysis with coordinate display
• CAM operations for manufacturing preparation

CopperForge serves as a companion tool to KiCad, running alongside KiCad PCB to provide enhanced insights during design and streamline manufacturing preparation.

CopperForge is also being built to handle other open source PCB design tools, such as LibrePCB and others, to provide a unified platform for PCB development.

The application leverages proven Rust ecosystem libraries including gerber_types, gerber_parser, and gerber_viewer from the MakerPnP project, plus the egui_mobius stack with egui_lens for reactive state management and event logging. The kicad-ecs library is used for IPC communication with KiCad, enabling real-time updates and interactions. This crate was formerly separated into its own repository, but has been merged into CopperForge to provide a more cohesive development experience.

What sets CopperForge apart is its focus on algorithmic PCB manufacturing optimization within a memory-safe, multi-threaded environment. The ECS design paradigm allows for flexible component management and real-time updates, while the egui framework provides a modern, responsive user interface.

Shown below is the loading of a PCB design with over 400+ components, where the KiCad PCB design is loaded, the gerbers are generated within the tool, and the display is updated.

Real-time BOM Integration

CopperForge features a powerful real-time Bill of Materials (BOM) system that communicates directly with a running KiCad instance through IPC (Inter-Process Communication). This provides live component data for assembly and manufacturing preparation.

BOM Features:

• Live KiCad Integration: Direct communication with KiCad PCB via IPC protocol
• Real-time Updates: Component data refreshes automatically as you modify your design in KiCad
• Comprehensive Component Data: Item number, reference designator, value, footprint, and description
• Precise Coordinates: X/Y position and rotation angle for pick-and-place operations
• Advanced Filtering: Search and filter components by reference, value, footprint, or description
• Multiple Units: Display coordinates in either millimeters or mils
• Connection Status: Visual indicators for KiCad connection status
• Auto-refresh: Configurable refresh intervals for live updates
• Thread-safe Architecture: Built with egui_mobius signal/slot pattern for responsive UI

Usage:

1. Open your PCB design in KiCad
2. Launch CopperForge and navigate to the BOM tab
3. Click "Connect" to establish live communication with KiCad
4. View real-time component data with filtering and search capabilities
5. Use coordinate data for pick-and-place machine programming

Roadmap

CopperForge is an evolving platform with a focus on enhancing PCB design and manufacturing preparation. Our roadmap includes both ongoing development and planned features to expand the platform's capabilities. Please see our ROADMAP.md for more details on current and future features.

Requirements

• Rust: 1.65.0 or higher (see rustup.rs for installation)
• KiCad: 9.0+ (for PCB file import functionality)
• Operating System: Linux, macOS, or Windows

Getting Started

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Atlantix-EDA/CopperForge.git
   cd CopperForge

2. Build and run:

   cargo run --release

Basic Usage

1. Load a PCB file: Use File → Open to load a KiCad .kicad_pcb file
2. View layers: Toggle layer visibility using the layer controls panel
3. Real-time BOM: Open KiCad with your PCB, then use the BOM tab to connect and view live component data
4. Run DRC: Access Design Rule Check from the DRC panel
5. Adjust settings: Configure grid, orientation, and view options

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on how to get involved.

License

See LICENSE file for details.