Software program engineer Thea Flowers has developed a device designed to make it simpler to share your KiCad {hardware} tasks — by offering a browser-based interface for viewing the information, dubbed KiCanvas.
“KiCanvas is early alpha however I really feel it is time to let it out into the world for all of you to check out and break,” Flowers explains. “Presently, KiCanvas features as a stand-alone net utility that may view information saved on GitHub — offering a straightforward solution to share your designs with others. Nonetheless, that is only the start of my plans for this mission.”
The mission happened when Flowers was in search of a solution to share KiCad schematics in articles with out simply dumping screenshots, growing a Canvas-based renderer which allowed for merely interactive embedded schematics. “People actually preferred the interactive schematics,” Flowers explains. “This acquired me considering – why is not there a browser primarily based viewer for KiCad information? The closest factor we now have is InteractiveHtmlBom but it surely solely handles boards and requires a KiCad plugin to generate the information forward of time. I wished a really seamless expertise – level it at a KiCad file and it will present it.”
That is the place KiCanvas is available in. Written in TypeScript with Canvas and WebGL, KiCanvas is ready to parse and show KiCad information immediately in-browser with out having to load KiCad itself — supplying you with an interactive view into schematics, PCB designs, and general tasks. The viewer contains panning and zooming, the flexibility to pick out and examine symbols and footprints, in addition to to pick out board layers and toggle their visibility — although, on the time of writing, solely KiCad 6 information may very well be totally rendered.
The device permits for a number of views, panning, zooming, and interplay, with extra options deliberate. (📷: Thea Flowers)
“I hope KiCanvas can ultimately develop into one thing helpful to the complete Open {Hardware} neighborhood,” says Flowers. “I am so enthusiastic about the way forward for this mission — it hasn’t even reached its ultimate type! This can be a mission I am really creating for the neighborhood. It would all the time be free and open supply. I am grateful for everybody who’s proven pleasure, offered suggestions, and supported me in numerous methods.”
KiCanvas is accessible to strive on its web site now, and may load native KiCad information or these saved on GitHub; its supply code is accessible on GitHub underneath the permissive MIT license.
