CERN KiCad Library Bot
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Pipeline: https://gitlab.cern.ch/engineering-sw-service/kicad/altium_kicad_convert/-/pipelines/15018139 Source commit: fc877e4f Branch: master Job: https://gitlab.cern.ch/engineering-sw-service/kicad/altium_kicad_convert/-/jobs/76712252
CERN KiCad Libraries
About
These are the component libraries used at CERN for electronics design using KiCad. They have been open-sourced so they can be used freely by designers outside CERN – including, but not only, CERN contractors.
The libraries are the result of automatically converting the original Altium
Designer source libraries maintained by the fine folks at CERN's Electronics
Design Office, using kicad-cli every night. They contain symbols and
footprints for each component. Please note that 3D models and datasheets are not
included, as many of them are not CERN's IP (for example, obtained from
component vendors).
Technical Note: These libraries are currently generated using KiCad v9.x. While they are also compatible with KiCad v10.x, the native v10.x version of these libraries is also coming soon – stay tuned!
The sharing of these libraries is part of the larger Open Hardware activity at CERN. Open Hardware is a key part of CERN's Open Science Policy and its implementation at CERN is supported by our Open Source Program Office (OSPO). See the OSPO documentation for more details and feel free to ask any questions in the OSPO forums.
Installation
First, clone the repository to a local directory. Then, install an SQLite ODBC driver for your OS. These libraries use a database format, so an ODBC driver is required — please do not add the symbol and footprint libraries separately, they are not structured to be used that way.
Tip
If you're on Linux and have installed KiCad using
flatpak install flathub org.kicad.KiCad, you can install an ODBC driver by runningflatpak install org.kicad.KiCad.ODBCDriver.sqliteodbc
The next step is to rename CERN_Windows.kicad_dbl or CERN_Linux.kicad_dbl
(depending on your OS) to CERN.kicad_dbl. Then, in KiCad, go to Preferences
→ Configure Paths and add a CERN_LIB_DIR variable pointing to your local
library copy. After that point, installing the libraries for 9.x and 10.x can
differ significantly, follow the ones for your version:
Instructions for KiCad 9.x
Warning
This will overwrite your existing library configuration: please back up your
sym-lib-tableandfp-lib-tablefiles first. If you want to mix the CERN KiCad libraries with yours, you need to manually (and carefully) merge the contents into your existing library table files (again, after backing them up).
Copy sym-lib-table and fp-lib-table from the CernLib directory to the
KiCad configuration directory (usually this will be %APPDATA%/kicad/9.0 for
Windows installations, ~/.config/kicad/9.0 for Linux).
Instructions for KiCad 10.x
Open Preferences → Manage Symbol Libraries and add a new entry with format
Table, nickname CERN, and the path pointing to
${CERN_LIB_DIR}/sym-lib-table; then do the same with Preferences → Manage
Footprint Libraries and ${CERN_LIB_DIR}/fp-lib-table.
Note
The v9.x instructions can be used for v10.x, as well; however, this method is more flexible and makes it easier to combine the CERN KiCad libraries with your existing ones.
Finally, restart KiCad to apply the changes.
Licence
The libraries are made available under the permissive
variant of the CERN Open Hardware Licence
v2 (short SPDX identifier CERN-OHL-P-2.0).
This means you can use them in any kind of design, Open Source or proprietary.
This variant was selected to maximise compatibility with a broad range of
projects and with other libraries.
Disclaimer
Please read the complete licence text, and in particular section 5 ("DISCLAIMER AND LIABILITY"). Very importantly, the libraries are made available "as is" with no express or implied warranties of any kind. While we hope these libraries are useful, please note that there aren't any resources allocated for providing user support or assisting with the correct use of the libraries. The "as is" provision therefore applies in this respect, as well.
Reporting issues
If you use the libraries, you may come across a genuine error, be it derived from the original symbols and footprints or introduced during the automatic conversion process. Feel free to report it via the project's issue tracker and we will do our best to follow up and fix it.