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20–22 Mar 2017
CERN
Europe/Zurich timezone

Support of free software in public institutions: the KiCad case

21 Mar 2017, 11:00
1h
31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre (CERN)

31/3-004 - IT Amphitheatre

CERN

105
Show room on map

Speaker

Javier Serrano (CERN)

Description

KiCad [1] is a tool to help electronics designers develop Printed Circuit Boards (PCB).

CERN's BE-CO-HT section has been contributing to its development since 2011 [2]. These efforts are framed in the context of CERN's activities regarding Open Source Hardware (OSHW), and are meant to provide an environment where design files for electronics can be shared in an efficient way, without the hurdles imposed by the use of proprietary formats.

The talk will start by providing some context about OSHW and the importance of using Free Software tools for sharing design files. We will then move on to a short KiCad tutorial, and finish with some considerations about the role public institutions can play in developing and fostering the use of Free Software, and whether some of the KiCad experience can apply in other contexts.

[1] http://kicad-pcb.org/
[2] http://www.ohwr.org/projects/cern-kicad/wiki

Primary author

Presentation materials