KiCad is a useful tool for designing printed circuit boards, but it’s of no use to you if you can’t install it on the computer you’re on. To get around that, [Akshay Rukade] has whipped up a browser-based alternative to help keep you working in less permissive environments. It’s called ZiroEDA.
Quite simply, ZiroEDA is a TypeScript port of KiCad 10.0.6’s C++ source code. You get the schematic editor, the PCB editor, the interactive router, and the electrical and design rule checkers all running in a browser. It can open .kicad_pro files as you’d expect, and you can edit and save them as you would if you were working in standard KiCad directly.
[Akshay] reports that KiCad’s own kicad-cli was used for compatibility testing, and that zone fills came out vertex-identical from ZiroEDA versus using KiCad itself. With that said, the project is still a work in progress, and some dialogs from the original software are still missing. Projects are said to be end-to-end encrypted, but you’ll hopefully lose your job quickly if you try and put anything important to national security through a tool like this. You can always try it, just to give your higher-ups a heart attack.
Source is available on GitHub if you want to see how it all ticks. We’ve featured other great KiCad hacks before, too, like this GPU-accelerated autorouter. If you’re working on PCB tools of your own, don’t hesitate to notify the tipsline.
I’m afraid of downloading files, so this is perfect for me!
Another show of the power of AI tooling. I don’t think you even need an expensive model for this. The translation would be pretty straightforward if kicad has even a little bit of abstraction.
Nice! Not an electrical engineer here so improbable that I’ll need to use it, but bookmarked just in case. Thanks for the heads up.
You don’t need to be an EE to design a circuit board. Anyone with some basic electronics knowledge can make a simple PCB.
PCB Design doesn’t have to be complicated. If you can create a circuit on a breadboard and maybe follow a reference design from a datasheet or existing schematic: you can learn how to design a simple PCB and have it made cheaply by any of the many fabs available these days.
Most recently i created a led board. Just a tiny DIP-8 sized board with a couple smt leds on one side and resistors on the other sandwiched between two male headers. Cause i got sick and tired of constantly plugging in 5mm leds with resistors on my breadboard. It can be that silly and simple.
On programs for designing PCBs. I’d probably suggest to first try out EasyEDA. That one is quite hobbyist friendly and web-based by design. Compared to KiCad that has a steeper learning curve (but is quite rewarding once you master it).
I’ve been dreaming of a KiCAD compatible EDA, a parametric (probably code based) 3d cad tool and a project manager/documentation/sharing tool all built into one website for a long time now. I wonder if this can be a way to it? Usually when I see these ‘compile to web’ things the file management ui doesn’t really translate well to this use.
With you on the file management UI. That’s the biggest issue with the solvespace (CAD) web version at this point: https://solvespace.com/webver.pl
I don’t do emscripten, so someone else will need to fix it up and submit a PR.
why not emscripten or similar existing tech? no new bugs
And to do anything in it it asks you to register. Which is completely unnecessary. Only means this project has be done with ambitions that it will one day gey monetized.
The real goal of ZiroEDA seems to be the creation of a generative model for electronics. They also created a way to upload design files to fabs using a PCBWay like portal with themselves as a middle-man.
SO the intent seems to be to use their KiCad port as a launching platform for the generative model and to skim a little of the top from any designs that might be getting sent through their website for manufacturing. It is also quite possible they are hoovering up any data that passes through for the AI in question.
Seemed inevitable. We are looking at a wave of AI-created software clones born from little information. Having it port a well-annotated open-source project like KiCad to a different language shouldn’t be that hard. If anything slightly surprised it took so long.
Still. I know better than to sign up and give my hardware design files to a complete stranger that wants to democratize hardware, just because they had AI create a port of KiCad. If i want this, I’d probably run my own server locked behind a VPN connection. Just can’t be careful enough these days.
Someone vibed KiCaD on the web!