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Re: gEDA-user: Interest in PCB footprint generation scripts?



On Wednesday 11 May 2005 09:28 pm, Darrell Harmon wrote:
> I am currently writing a set of python scripts to generate PCB 
> footprints.  The idea behind what I am doing is to make it easy to 
> create footprints for a project from the components datasheets quickly.  

Alas the datasheets can actually be misleading, take this one for example:

 What looks to be a simple 64 pin SOT314-2 LQFP64 for the Philips
 LPC2138:

 http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/package/SOT314-2.html

However when you look at the actually recommended reflow
footprint it is far more complicated:

 http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat/packages/footprint/SOT314-2_fp_reflow.pdf

To which John Luciani said "Congratulations on finding the most difficult part that I have seen!"
as I have been using his excellent Perl footprint library.

The eight corner pins are different widths with different center-to-center spacing from all of the
other pins. :-(  Anyone have this ARM/LPC footprint?

> write documentation and put it on my website.  Suggestions are welcome.

Some type of generalized footprint description language would be good.  Something
that could be parsed by your favorite language, whatever it maybe.  What you have so far
does look very useful.