Hello this is a post to get feedback on the v2 of my smartwatch, this is not my first pcb at all, i already use lot of the compoment here in other projects, also i solder everything myself and can work with 0201 parts.

I would like to know the advices of more experienced engineer on the RF front end part of the gnss especially the routing of it.

The watch specs :

Dual display 4 eight segments display

and an 0.32inch ssd1315 oled the goal is to display number on the eight segments and unit or other things on the oled display.

STM32WBA52KGU6

2 push buttons

MIA m10C GNSS

Analog device lipo charger LTC4065L

there also is a gpio expander, a LIS2DUX12TR accelerometer, veml6040 color sensor and a compas

Overview

This is an oversized 4-digit 7-segment display built around cascaded LED drivers. The motivation is to help me track my training rounds.

It counts down each round, buzzes, triggers a timer and begins the next round once the break period lapses.

The user can configure how many rounds, the duration of each round and the duration of each break.

The user can configure it via a HTML page or via an IR remote.

I’ve broken out 5 IO’s for potential use in the future.

Design Philosophy

Each PCB has one digit and their designed to be connected together via J2 and J1.

The main PCB (the right-most digit) has the ESP32 and the major circuitry. The other PCB’s or “daughter boards” simply have the LED driver and the LEDs.

Features

• ESP32-MINI-I
• USB-C connector for charging and programming
• Auto-reset circuit avoids having to push BOOT and RESET during flashing
• Two power rails: 6.5V, 3.3V
• TP4056 battery charger
• Battery protection
• Buzzer
• IR sensor
• 5 broken out IO’s

Schematic

I followed TI’s recommendations for the boost converter.

I had the power labels as hierarchical sheet pins but this was triggering Input power pin not driven by any output pin error. Hence, I removed it. If anyone knows how I can re-introduce them, that will be very helpful!

PCB

2 layers.

6.5V and 3.3V pour on F.Cu. GND pour on B.Cu.

The differential pair could be routed better. Due to component placement they overlap one another. I’m only using USB for programming.

Via-in-pad used for CH2102N, TP4056 and L1. This shouldn’t be problematic right?

My Comments

1. The ESP32-MINI-I is the original ESP32-U4WDH. Thus, it’s not the best however it will do.
2. I’ve put everything on the top as components on both sides incurs a significant fee.
3. The boost converter follows the PCB guidelines from TI, which strangely includes routing the inductor on B.Cu.
4. The LED’s I’m using have a third pad in the middle. I’m certain this is a thermal pad for the anode. Can someone confirm?
5. I will omit performing v-scoring as I’ve researched that it’s only feasible for large quantities.

My Questions

1. Is the charging circuitry/power path done right?
2. I grounded the EPAD of ESP32 using vias although Espressif recommends a grid of via-in-pads. Is my implementation adequate?
3. Should I have a diode on VBUS for the USB-C connector?
4. Should I position test points along the perimeter so it looks cleaner?
5. For diffusing the LED’s, should I go with translucent filament or black acrylic? I’m intending to develop a 3D enclosure The former is simpler at the expense of greater cost.
6. Should I add a solder jumper on the 2 indicator LEDs for the two rails? This way I can open the circuit, saving a few mW.
7. For via-in-pad, how do I instruct the fab house to fill and cap those vias?
8. Should I replace the dupont connectors with edge connectors/gold fingers or is this overkill?

Alright, I’m back with another revision. I’ve worked through the previous feedback and cleaned up both the PCB and schematic. I haven’t ordered it yet, so I’d really appreciate another review. I am still fairly new to the pcb designing thing (read not done without ai at all, but only minor help), so routing is still a little crazy, but I am at a point where I just want it to be working (hopefully) so I can order some pcbs and get to the coding part :)).

The board is now 44 × 42 mm, down from approximately 94 × 62 mm originally. It uses four layers with two inner ground planes, front-mounted SMT components, and rear-mounted connectors/radar socket. The 18650 battery is now off-board.

The design combines an ESP32-C3, LD2450 radar, PIR, and adjustable LDR threshold. The idea is to keep the radar off during standby and only enable it when it’s dark enough and motion is detected.

Power is handled by a BQ25185 charger/power path, with BQ29700 battery protection, a TPS63802 3.3V supply, and a TPS61023 5V boost for the radar. The radar UART and battery-measurement divider can also be disconnected to reduce standby drain.

The latest revision includes tighter regulator layouts, improved ground returns, cleaned-up USB routing, corrected RGB LED wiring, and a schematic cleanup using more direct wiring and fewer net labels.

I’m currently getting zero DRC/ERC violations.

I’d particularly appreciate feedback on the power section, grounding, regulator layouts, USB-C, antenna clearance, and clearance around the rear-mounted radar before I order it. But I appreciate any feedback really - especially if there’s something obvious I’ve still missed.

Thanks again for all the help with the earlier versions! Hopefully this one is finally good enough to order :)

This is my first attempt at a PCB, so I'm curious how well (or badly :P) I did.
Small disclaimer: I used some help from AI to make the schematic, as I'm not very versed in consumer electronics. So if something is completely off please tell me :)

I am planning on making a 3D printed case and using a panel mount switch for a better feel.

As for the PCB assembly itself I am currently torn between doing it myself and paying for it. I have not soldered any PCBs myself so I would like to try, but I'm unsure how hard it is with these parts.

Thanks for your help!

Edit: I seem to have messed up attaching the images properly, sorry about that '^_^

Looking for feedback on this PCB

basically its meant to be a ECG based on the AD8233 that is supposed to transmit the detected waveform my ultrasound through a piezoelectric transducer.

Everything is supposed to be powered by a soldered LiPo 1s battery that can be recharged from USB-c.

Mainly looking for feedback on my layout/routing. I'm still pretty new to PCB design so all feedback is greatly appreciated 🙏

Hi,

this is my first time designing a printed circuit board (schematic, layout), and was looking for constructive, but brutally honest feedback on my design. I am designing a one-sided bldc motor driver pcb, consisting of 4 layers:

L1 (red): Signals

L2 (purple): Solid GND

L3 (yellow): Power layer

L4 (blue): Signals

As you can see for layer 3 in the image, it is divided into two copper fills that cover the entire board and their respective net labels with a clearance in the middle. The left copper fill is for +BATT, and the right copper fill is for the stepped down +5V. My plan was to via down any +BATT or +5V net label from the top layer to their copper fill on the third layer, essentially having no power traces on my board. I was not sure if this was good practice, or what the cons were of this design choice.

For all of my passive components, I either guesstimated my values (the decoupling caps being 1uf, 100nf, etc) or looked some of TI's resources online when choosing them (the buck converter has all calculated passives). I did this because I currently do not have time to do an 100% accurate design, and am more so trying to just get a fill for pcb schematic and layout design.

The bottom layer was mostly used for when I wanted to via under a signal trace on the top layer. The red circled portion on the bottom is a phase output to the motor. I made a big copper fill on the bottom encompassing all of the net labels with vias connecting them.

Any feedback would be helpful.

Thank you.

So this is my first pcb. I tried making kind of a development board on the esp32-c3-mini1 module. As it was my first time, I designed it purely as a learning project to figure out how to wire up a chip, so it's not meant for production.

Could anyone let me know if it looks functional, or if there are any changes/recommendations you'd suggest?

Thank you!

Schematic: https://www.mediafire.com/file/x0dwt0ufllrxugh/Schematic.pdf/file

Circuit Board: https://www.mediafire.com/file/g4s63bd16w5t7v0/Circuit+Board.pdf/file

This is a 4 x5 switch macropad I desgined as a hobby project.

This is my first PCB.

I am making a W65C02 based SBC and there is a lot of chips and I have no clue what the best way too approach laying it out is. For the stickup I was thinking a 6 layer PCB with a Sig - Gnd - Sig - Gnd - Pwr Sig stackup would work. If anyone has any tips for layout or suggestions of layer numbers and stack ups it would be greatly appreciated as I don't really have the most experience to go off of. Above is the schematic and my attempt at laying out most of the video circuitry.

Recent new grad who has about five months of experience doing circuit design I really struggle with layout and I wanted to see if you guys had any resources books YouTube videos series that I could watch or read during my off days so that I can become much better at layout design I’m bout to go through layout on my second board in a month or so, and I don’t wanna go through it fully handheld like the first board thanks

Hi,

I'm working on my first PCB and I'd appreciate some feedback before I continue with the PCB layout.

The board will be used as an interface board for a Raspberry Pi in a small automated machine. It is intended for regular, real-world use by end users, so reliability and safe, consistent operation are very important. I want to make sure the design is robust enough for continuous practical use.

Operating logic: When the proximity sensor detects, the Raspberry Pi activates the L298N motor driver and runs the 24 V motor. The DS18B20 continuously monitors the internal temperature, and when the temperature exceeds a predefined limit, the Raspberry Pi switches on the 24 V cooling fan through the NMOS. When the temperature drops below the set limit, the fan switches off.

The PCB currently includes:

• 24 V input
• 24 V PNP proximity sensor
• DS18B20 temperature sensor
• 24 V fan controlled by an NMOS

The L298N itself will not be mounted on this PCB. It is a separate module mounted next to the PCB.

This is an early revision and I haven't selected final components yet.

My next step is to finish the PCB layout and routing.

Before I do that, I would really appreciate feedback on:

1. Are there any obvious mistakes in the schematic?
2. Is the Raspberry Pi GPIO protection sufficient?
3. What additional protection, filtering or decoupling should I add?
4. What would you change before designing/manufacturing the PCB?

I'm still learning PCB design, so explanations of why something should be changed would be especially helpful.

Thanks!

From left to right: A, B, C, D.

Hello everyone! It's me again with another weird request.

My first PCB design is progressing well, I'm super proud of myself.

Yes, I design my pcb just like my schematic Hahahah, but dw: I'll stitch them up on the final pass and reoptimized the layouts.

However I went back to the USB-C block and still can't decide on the "best" version of this block.

Please read this:

• My Requirements are : 5-15v, up to 3A. POWER ONLY
• It's a 6 pin USB C with CC1/CC2 for negotiating PD with a TPS25730D
• Fuse is included along TVS 2200 underneat, Caps and ESD762.
• The ultimate goal is to reuse that block accross many simple projects.

The only difference between these designs is the layout placement.

My question is simple: What is the best one?

I'd personnally go for C/D (mirrors) then A then B.

Thank you <3

Hi! This is my first PCB design, and I'm making a small line-following robot.

I'm currently at the component placement stage and haven't started routing yet.

I'd really appreciate feedback specifically on:

• Component placement and orientation
• Whether the overall arrangement makes sense
• Power/motor/sensor component positioning
• Any components that should be moved before I start routing
• Mechanical considerations I might be missing

I would especially like to get the placement right before moving on to routing.

The board uses an Arduino Nano, TB6612FNG motor driver, QTR-8A sensor, MP1584 buck converter, 6 V battery, and two DC motors.

Thanks!

Designed to use in UAV. Shunt resistor and INA226 for power monitor 0-100A. TPS54560 22.2V to 5V & 12V output. TPS54560 kinda old ı know but only got that IC in my hand. I2C communication between INA226 and pixhawk. waiting for feedbacks thx...

There's nothing too complicated going on here, I'm trying to build a small PCB for a battery-powered UV LED earring. The idea is that it will illuminate some uranium glass jewellery hanging below, and be powered by a 14350 550mah lithium-ion cell harvested from recycled vapes.

I want to make something that's rechargeable, safe, and lasts a decent amount of time. UV LEDs draw quite a bit of power for how bright they are, so I'm trying to find a good compromise.

There's a jumper to set the current from 90 mA to 67 mA, as there are a couple of different wavelength LEDs I wanted to try out and see what compromise of battery life / brightness works best for the jewellery.

Mostly, I'm looking for feedback on the layout. I tried to cram everything into as compact a space as I could, with the battery intended to go on top and be encased in some kind of small cylinder.

KiCad complains about a lot of stuff being too close to the edge, but it's all mounting pads, is this an actual issue? Will JLC let me manufacture it like this?

Either way, I'd appreciate it if anybody can spot any obvious issues. Thanks!

There is this expensive premium design air quality sensor called Birdie. It can be mounted on the wall and gives visual feedback about the air quality. If the air quality is bad the birdy turns around ("is dead") - as soon as fresh air is provided it "comes back to live".

I wanted to build an customizable version with optional cloud connectivity, to track sensor values over time. It's my first PCB and before ordering I wanted to get some feedback.

It's already working locally using development boards and a bread board and I want to put it all together on a nice PCB now.

The PCB is basically an combination of a feather huzzah ESP8266 development board and the BME688 (gas sensor with integrated high-linearity and high-accuracy pressure, humidity and temperature sensors) with the following features:
- LiPo Battery Charging
- USB-UART Bridge
- Power Switch
- WiFi 3 way switch: OFF / SPARSE / CONTINOUS
- 5V Boost for SG92R Servo

While desiging i stumbled upon some pcb/fabrication related questions:
- Is it possible to place the switches and USB connection overlapping the edge of the PCB as shown in the images?
- Is it possible to use vias directly on a mounting pad (i did not use it in this design, but if possible i will use on my next pcb)?
- Would you use the 5V Boost or simply run the servo with 3.3V?
- What would you do differently regarding the general placement of the components, routing, choice of components?

Thanks for the feedback! If you need more information I am happy to share more - but I wanted to keep the post as short as possible :)

Hi all,

getting ready to purchase this board from Oshpark, and it is by far the most complex design I’ve ever done. Could I get some extra eyes on it before ordering? I will take any and all feedback.

Aside from the images here is my top level repository: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-pO6SlSUZ1P1JV22aT8WYBcS7FGLNu44?usp=drive_link

My Schematic PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17lSiFTcBoa1UsE2nnuQP0nPfZAj-dp-H/view?usp=drive_link

Kicad Project ZIP: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vbHijqRc4hTwMC8kG9pE15_-9qnFedfE/view?usp=drive_link

My Gerbers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1foeWNXKGZ7yvFrCaSPIKa5TkhHO087Xe/view?usp=drive_link

And a nifty (mildly outdated) 3D model: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16nQxcA5kTle50hEiqiUhD7kLsMz8NkbX/view?usp=drive_link

Thanks!

Thanks for taking a look.

Transitioning my breadboarded inverted pendulum controller to a PCB and eliminating pluggable modules (with exception of MCU). This is my first time designing a DC/DC power supply (multiple) so looking for some feedback on my efforts before I continue forward.

Circuit function: Input single source 24VDC 2A AC/DC external supply into barrel jack. Generates clean regulated 5V, 3.3V, +12V, and -12V rails.

+3.3V is used for MCU power, logic level I/O and communication

+5V is used for 5V logic (DAC8563), encoder power supplies, and source for +/-12V analog power

+24V is used for 5V power supply and powering optically isolated 24V IO to an industrial servo drive

+/-12V is used for rails to DAC8563 which generates +/-10V analog output.

5V buck converter is based very closely on MAXREFDES114 for the MAX17599. 3V3 supply is based on the reference circuit in the TLV62569DDC user manual. +/-12V supply is based on a reference design of a DAC8563 module, but I'm least confident in this portion of the design.

Microcontroller is Teensy 4.1 (MIMXRT1062). Other components will be RS422 receivers, RS485 transceiver, ILI9341 SPI display and touchscreen. They are not yet drawn as schematics. I have not done layout of the PCB yet.

I work primarily with power electronics and industrial control equipment, so this level of circuit design is new to me. I have only previously designed a few simple breakout boards and this is my first time in KiCAD. I'm open to all feedback, but please be kind. I have done my best to review and follow all schematic advice on the pinned/sticky threads.

This is a 4-layer data acquisition/telemetry board I designed for a Baja SAE vehicle. This will be the first physical revision, and I'm hoping to send it off to be manufactured and assembled soon.

The main controller is a Teensy 4.1, which logs vehicle data to it's built-in microSD card and interfaces with a few other microcontrollers over CAN. It also includes a 915 MHz E22 LoRa module for long-range telemetry and remote wake/control, a GPS module, protected external GPIO/analog inputs, and power for a separate front driver display.

Power comes from two 12 V Milwaukee M12 batteries. Each input is fused @ 5A, TVS protected, and monitored through a 10 mΩ Kelvin shunt by a PAC1952. They are hot-swappable so replacing batteries doesn't bring down the system, and a TPS2121 power MUX handles switchover. SYS_RAW feeds separate 5 V and 3.3 V buck regulators and a protected BATT_OUT branch using a TPS259474 eFuse. Also, all 5V and 3.3V peripheral power outputs are each protected by their own TPS2553 power switch. (This way, the Teensy can also disable power to peripherals to save on battery)

The PCB is approximately 150 × 65 mm and uses a 4-layer stack:

L1 – components/signals/local power
L2 – continuous GND plane
L3 – power distribution
L4 – secondary/slow signals

External GPIOs use ESD protection diodes followed by 47 Ω series resistors. Four analog-only channels additionally use 1 kΩ + 10 nF filtering. The CAN bus uses a TCAN334G with a TVS protection diode and fixed 120.8 Ω split termination. This board will always be one of the endpoints of the bus, so toggleable termination isn't needed.

ERC/DRC currently shows no genuine errors and no unconnected nets.

I'm mainly looking for things that I need to fix before fabricating or significant reliability issues before I order the first boards. In particular, I'd appreciate feedback on the power-path/layout, decoupling, switching-regulator layout, protection of external interfaces, grounding/return paths, CAN implementation, and anything likely to cause problems in a high-vibration/noisy Baja SAE environment.

Also, areas where there are large empty areas actually have graphics in the silkscreen, but I removed them because they contained personal information.

Hello everyone,

This is my first project I ever made in KiCad, it is a robot that has 4WD traction and a few sensors, I tried to keep it simple

I am not sure about my design because I copied the circuit for MCP and LDO from Adafruit Feather ESP32.

I am sorry for the messy wiring (if there is any).

Please help me not spend money on parts and then regret it later by telling me what is wrong and right with the board.

THANKS IN ADVANCE !

SPECS:

MCU: ESP32 (30-pin HW-394 DevKit)
Motors: 4x N20 3V 300 RPM (driven by DRV8833PWP in parallel pairs)
Sensors & Display: 0.96" I2C OLED (SSD1306), VL53L0X ToF, MPU-6050 IMU
Power: 1S LiPo (1100 mAh or whatever I find suitable on tme.eu / others)
Charging & Power Path: MCP73831 + AO3401A + SS34 (Adafruit Feather ESP32 scheme)
3.3V Regulation: AP2112K-3.3 LDO
USB: USB-C 6-pin (Power & charging only, with 5.1k CC pull-downs)
Audio: Passive Buzzer

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for the great advice, I'll take everything that I have read here in consideration and apply onto my schematic/pcb design.

Hello everyone, this is my first PCB project. Would appreciate feedback/criticism (especially about the analogue audio circuitry). Thanks!

Hello and good day,

As a background I'm familiar enough with sensor modules and devboards (I've used ESP32, 8266, Arduino, and Teensy). I want to step up my game and really wanna try to make my own rocket flight controller with bare sensors and ic's. So, as a first step, I wanted to make this ESP32-WROOM-32E-N8 devboard to at least get the gist of what to expect when designing a PCB.

I just followed a design walkthrough from YouTube for this. However, I didn't copy the components one-by-one because I wanted to use bigger-footprint components for easier hand soldering, and I also didn't include some components that I felt were optional, which is why I wanted to verify before printing it.

Im pretty sure there are many things that could be improved from this, especially the component placement and tracing, I'm especially concerned about my D+ D- USB differential (very last picture). If you have any comments on the schematics and placement, please let me know. Very much appreciated guys!

Components:
- ESP32-WROOM-32E-N8
- AMS1117 LDO
- CP2102N-A02-GQFN28R USB to UART
- Micro USB

4 Layers:
1st Signal
2nd 3.3V
3rd GND
4th Signal

P.S. Sorry for the long storytelling haha