LibrePCB

LibrePCB
	LibrePCB 0.1.7
Original author(s)	Urban Bruhin
Initial release	October 21, 2018;; 7 years ago
Stable release	Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). / Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).;; Error: first parameter cannot be parsed as a date or time.
Repository	GitHub/LibrePCB
Written in	C++
Engine
Operating system	Windows, macOS, Linux, Unix, BSD
Platform	x86, x86-64, ARM
Available in	16 languages...
Type	EDA
License	GPL 3.0 or later
Website	librepcb.org

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LibrePCB is an open-source Electronic Design Automation software suite to develop printed circuit boards. It features an integrated library management, schematic capture, PCB layout editor and is available for all major operating systems ^[2].

History

The project was started back in 2013 by its founder and lead developer Urban Bruhin ^[3]. In 2018 the project was introduced at the FOSDEM conference ^[4], followed by the first stable release in November of the same year ^[5]. A big milestone was reached in September 2023 with the release of version 1.0, which eliminated the lack of several important features ^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9].

Features

Library management

The integrated library manager provides direct access to the part libraries available on the Internet. The list of available libraries is fetched through an open API^[10] and allows to install and update libraries without manual file operations.

LibrePCB uses UUIDs for cross-referencing library elements. Names are never used as references and can therefore be changed at any time without breaking cross-references.

Automatic forward annotation

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LibrePCB Board Editor

LibrePCB features automated forward annotation to guarantee the electrical circuit of the PCB is always in sync with the schematics. Whenever the schematics are modified, the board is automatically updated accordingly. In addition, the board editor does not allow creating electrical connections that don't exist in the schematic. Compared to manual forward annotation as implemented in other EDA tools, this concept aims to be easier to use.

Fabrication service

Beside the traditional production data export of Gerber files, Excellon files, BOM etc., LibrePCB features an integrated manufacturing service to order PCBs without any manual file handling involved. This service is provided as a cooperation between LibrePCB and the PCB manufacturing companies AISLER^[11] and PCBWay^[12] (as of May 2023^[13]).

Command-line interface

Although LibrePCB itself features a graphical user interface, there’s also a command-line interface (CLI) provided. This allows automating some tasks, for example running the design rule check (DRC) or generating production data as part of a continuous integration (CI) workflow.

Funding

The project relies mainly on donations to fund the development. The software does not contain any commercial, paid features.

Since April 2023^[14], the LibrePCB project also receives financial support from the NGI0 Entrust Fund^[15], a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet programme^[16]. A major outcome of this support was the LibrePCB 1.0 release ^[17]

References

External links

This article "LibrePCB" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:LibrePCB. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

[1] repcb.org/features/for-everyone/

[2] www.heise.de/news/Open-Source-Leiterplatten-LibrePCB-Version-1-0-0-9528358.html

[3] Interview with Urban Bruhin

[4] rchive.fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/cad_librepcb/

[5] repcb.org/blog/2018-11-25_release_0.1.0/

[6] repcb.org/blog/2023-09-24_release_1.0.0/

[7] www.golem.de/news/librepcb-freie-software-fuer-pcb-design-erreicht-version-1-0-2309-178019.html

[8] www.hackster.io/news/librepcb-reaches-a-1-0-0-milestone-offers-all-the-features-you-need-for-pcb-design-and-production-11319e7e8d59

[9] wn.net/Articles/945519/

[10] velopers.librepcb.org/d1/dcb/doc_server_api.html

[11] sler.net/partners/librepcb

[12] repcb.org/blog/2022-09-08_partnership_with_pcbway/

[13] .librepcb.org/about

[14] t.nl/project/LibrePCB/

[15] t.nl/entrust/

[16] www.ngi.eu

[17] repcb.org/blog/#2023-05-15_roadmap_1.0

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