nk25719 / PMD___aka-KiCad-esp32-6leds-2switches-1pj-circuit-

In this repo I am practicing KICAD. Created an ESP32 DevKit V1 module and a PCB footprint. I designed a circuit around this ESP32 consisting of six lamps, four switches, and two power jacks and added a voltage regulater to Vin to maintain a supply of +5V. (This project was originally made of two switches and 1 power jack and was named homeWork2.)
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Back Copper Should Have Ground Fill Too, #18

Closed ForrestErickson closed 6 months ago

ForrestErickson commented 6 months ago

Summary

For many reasons such as helpful to electro magnetic compatibility(EMC) and for reduced environmental waste (Copper sulfate) the places on a PCB which do not have routing traces should have a copper fill. Connecting to ground will help a designer for compliance with the requirement for electro magnetic Compatibility.

The Opportunity

The top copper with ground fill obvious. image

Turn off Top Copper and we see no ground fill on Bottom image

Recommended Change

Copy the top copper fill. Then change the layer to bottom. Put vias to connect the top and bottom ground fills. If the routing (layout) is tight this is a requirement requiring a VERY long discussion. We should at least start the discussion of Electro Magnetic Compatibility (Design for EMC).

nk25719 commented 6 months ago
image

Bottom copper fill is added

There is more than one way to doing that, 1- trace the top copper layer and press B to fill the copper area. 2- using the fill tool define the copper fill area larger than the coutyard, the kicad contraint rule copper to edge clearance will fix the filling zone. 3- Select the top copper fill, copied and pasted then moved to the exact same location, and then editted the layer from top to bottum in the properties dialogue. 4- Select the top copper fill, positioned the cursor on the corner, copied and pasted it without moving so it was automatically positioned, and then editted the layer from top to bottum in the properties dialogue.

image

Properties dialogue