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diff --git a/projects/kimesh/index.html b/projects/kimesh/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..33c9ef5 --- /dev/null +++ b/projects/kimesh/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,112 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html><head> + <meta charset="utf-8"> + <title>KiMesh | Home</title> + <meta name="description" content=""> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta name="mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes"> + <meta name="color-scheme" content="dark light"> + <link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css"> +</head> +<body><nav> + <div class="internal"> + + <a href="/" title="Home">Home</a> + <a href="/blog/" title="Blog">Blog</a> + <a href="/projects/" title="Projects">Projects</a> + <a href="/about/" title="About">About</a> + </div> + <div class="search"> + <div id="search"></div> + </div> + <div class="external"> + <a href="https://git.jaseg.de/" title="cgit">cgit</a> + <a href="https://github.com/jaseg" title="Github">Github</a> + <a href="https://gitlab.com/neinseg" title="Gitlab">Gitlab</a> + <a href="https://chaos.social/@jaseg" title="Mastodon">Mastodon</a> + </span> +</nav> + + <header> + <h1>KiMesh</h1> +<ul class="breadcrumbs"> + <li><a href="/">jaseg.de</a></li> + <li><a href="/projects/">Projects</a></li><li><a href="/projects/kimesh/">KiMesh</a></li> +</ul> + <strong>2023-10-04</strong> + </header> + <main data-pagefind-body> + <div class="links"> + <a href="https://git.jaseg.de/kimesh.git">Sources</a> + <a href="https://github.com/jaseg/kimesh/issues">Issues</a> + <a href="https://jaseg.de/projects/kimesh">Docs</a> + </div> + <div class="document" id="kicad-security-mesh-generator"> +<h1 class="title">KiCAD Security Mesh Generator</h1> + +<img alt="A screenshot of KiCAD showing a PCB security mesh generated by KiMesh." src="kicad-mesh-result-large.png" style="width: 800px;" /> +<p>This repository contains KiMesh, a KiCAD pcbnew plugin that generates security mesh traces on a KiCAD PCB.</p> +<div class="section" id="installation"> +<h2>Installation</h2> +<p>KiMesh has two parts: The pcbnew plugin that generates the traces, and the magic footprints that you use to tell the +plugin how many traces of which dimensions to generate where.</p> +<p>To install the plugin, copy the "kimesh" directory into your KiCAD installation's scripting plugin folder. Usually, this +is <cite>~/.config/kicad/scripting/plugins/</cite> for KiCAD stable installations or +<cite>~/.config/kicad/[major version].99/scripting/plugins/</cite> for nightly builds. On Windows, these paths can be found in your +user account's <cite>AppData/Roaming</cite> directory.</p> +<p>To install the footprint libraries, the easiest way is to download the library zip from the project's repo +<a class="reference external" href="https://git.jaseg.de/kimesh.git/plain/mesh_footprints.tar.xz?h=main">[link]</a>, unpack it to your project folder, and +add the unpacked libraries as project-specific libraries through KiCad's library management thingy.</p> +</div> +<div class="section" id="usage"> +<h2>Usage</h2> +<p>To work, KiMesh requires four things:</p> +<ol class="arabic simple"> +<li>An area free of other features such as footprints or traces where to generate the mesh.</li> +<li>One or more "graphic polygons" on a drawing layer that specify the area of the mesh.</li> +<li>A closed board outline on the <cite>Edge.Cuts</cite> layer.</li> +<li>One of the magic footprints from the KiMesh anchor library that defines the mesh's number of wires and their +dimensions, and tells KiMesh where to start the mesh and in which direction to start it.</li> +</ol> +<p>You can choose any layer for the outline polygons, such as the pre-defined <cite>User.Eco1</cite> or <cite>User.X</cite> layers, or you can +define your own. You just have to select that layer later in KiMesh's generator dialog. Note that KiMesh only processes +graphic polygons on that layer, and ignores other shapes such as lines, rectangles or circles. You can still use other +shapes, but you have to manually convert them to polygons before running KiMesh. To convert other shapes to +a polygon, select them, open the context menu with a right click, then choose the "Create from Selection 🞂 Create +Polygon from Selection" entry. For rectangles or circles, use the "Use Centerlines" option. For lines or arcs, use the +"Create bounding hull" option.</p> +<p>Place the magic anchor footprint on the outline of the mesh's shape polygons so that you have space to route out the +traces. The anchor footprint has an arrow on the <cite>F.Fab</cite> layer that indicates in which direction the mesh will be +generated.</p> +<p>I recommend adding the mesh to the schematic with one of KiCad's built-in <cite>Connector_02xN_Top_Bottom</cite> footprints. For a +mesh with k wires, choose a symbol with two rows of 2k pins each. For instance, for two mesh wires, choose +<cite>Connector_02x04_Top_bottom</cite>. Then assign one of the magic footprints to that symbol. To avoid DRC warnings, join the +two halves of the mesh on the output side of the footprint. That's the right side in default orientation, where the +higher-numbered pins are.</p> +<img alt="A screenshot of the connector footprint mentioned in the previous paragraph, shown conencted up as described in KiCad's schematic editor." src="screenshot-mesh-schematic.png" style="width: 800px;" /> +</div> +<div class="section" id="theory-of-operation"> +<h2>Theory of operation</h2> +<p>I have published a <a class="reference external" href="https://blog.jaseg.de/posts/kicad-mesh-plugin/">post</a> on my blog on the theory of operation behind KiMesh.</p> +</div> +</div> + </main><footer> + Copyright © 2023 Jan Sebastian Götte + / <a href="/about/">About</a> + / <a href="/imprint/">Imprint</a> +</footer> +<script src="/pagefind/pagefind-ui.js"></script> + <script> + if(navigator.getEnvironmentIntegrity!==undefined)document.querySelector('body').innerHTML=`<h1>Your browser + contains Google DRM</h1>"Web Environment Integrity" is a Google euphemism for a DRM that is designed to + prevent ad-blocking, and which Google has forced into their browsers against widespread public opposition. + In support of an open web, this website does not function with this DRM. 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