Automated Hardware & KiCad EDA Verification Pipeline
Autonomous hardware design workbench combining programmatic KiCad schematic/PCB verification, embedded 3D CAD timeline viewing, Creality print presets, and Git-backed approval gates.
Overview
Designing custom electronics—from 16kW electric mountainboard power distribution spines (14S4P) to modular mini line-array DSP amplifiers—traditionally suffers from manual ERC/DRC checks, fragmented CAD files, and slow design-for-manufacturing (DFM) feedback loops.
The Automated Hardware & KiCad EDA Verification Pipeline brings modern software CI/CD rigor to physical hardware engineering.
Architecture & Capabilities
1. Programmatic KiCad ERC/DRC & Fab Artifact Generation
- Headless verification runners execute electrical and physical rule checks on every commit.
- Automated generation of fabrication-ready Gerber archives, interactive HTML BOMs, and pick-and-place centroids.
2. Merged 3D CAD Workbench & Git Timeline Viewer
- Unified browser workbench featuring an interactive 3D model viewer alongside revision history timelines.
- Supports rapid mechanical iteration with pre-configured Creality slicing presets for functional enclosure prototyping before committing to CNC aluminum or injection molding.
# Example: Headless pipeline stage contract for hardware revision verification
pipeline_stages = [
"spec_guided_synthesis",
"kicad_erc_drc_verify",
"cad_3d_mesh_export",
"creality_slice_validation",
"owner_approval_gate",
]
3. Hardware Projects Built with the Pipeline
- 16kW Esk8 Mountainboard Power System: 14S4P high-discharge copper-spine battery pack engineering and VESC telemetry integration.
- Modular Mini Line Array PoC: Compact acoustic array enclosures paired with multi-channel Class-D amplification and DSP crossover networks (see RekordRescue & Real-Time Audio/DSP Tooling).