How much do I need to learn to understand KiCad?

Question

I have an associates in mechanical engineering and the interview told me that it was a 3D modeling software, so I thought it was relevant to my field. But then they gave me a take-home KiCad challenge and it seems to me that it is more 2 dimensional than 3D. On top of that there was a lot of lingo in their steps that I don’t quite understand like ‘generate gerbers’, ‘hand route the PCB’, ‘create BOM’, and ‘use split planes for power’. Should I call it quits?

Answer 1

KiCad is a PCB (printed circuit board) design program. That is why it seems 2D, because circuits are all 2D shapes piled on each other. It is not a mechanical design program and will not be a mechanical design program. If you want a free mechanical design program, try onshape. Solidworks is a premier package used by many. The key is to learn how to learn a new cad system. If you want to be a mechanical designer don't waste your time with an electrical package that you cannot model an L bracket with.

Answer 2

KiCad is a free piece of software for doing printed circuit board design - it's not really '3d modeling software'.



Every industry has TLA's (Three letter acronyms) that are unique to it - so don't let that freak you out.

Answer 3

About 90 seconds:

The Gerber format is an open 2D binary vector image file format. It is the standard file used by printed circuit board (PCB) industry software to describe the printed circuit board images: copper layers, solder mask, legend, etc.



Which is apparently the PCB variant of an STL file. And I'm not an ME.

Answer 4

Yes, quitting seems to be your perfect option. Why would anybody ever make an effort or try to learn anything?