Multiple teams will need to design and test custom circuit boards for PyCubed-1. We will be using a printed circuit board (PCB) design tool called KiCad.

Install KiCad

Go to http://www.kicad-pcb.org/download/ and download the applicable distribution for your specific operating system.

Download the PyCubed reference design

Much of the avionics design will leverage the PyCubed mainboard for full-size cubesats. The design is also a good reference for seeing how certain things are done in KiCad vs other layout tools. Clone (or download the .zip) the pycubed/hardware repo: https://github.com/pycubed/hardware.

Specific KiCad Instruction Videos

If you're new to PCB design, or even if you just need to see how specific functions are performed in KiCad, Chris Gammell has a lot of great videos on his Contextual Electronics youtube. Specific playlists that will be helpful:

1. "Getting to Blinky 5.0" good, fast overview of all the steps it takes to go from a circuit sketched on paper to a finished working PCB in-hand.
2. "KiCAD Quick-Start Tutorial" - short introductory video demonstrating a basic work-flow through schematic capture and PCB layout modules