Description
KiCad Advanced: Design a smart USB thumb drive. This course teaches students how to design a four-layer smart USB thumb drive using KiCad software and advanced PCB design techniques. This course goes beyond basic PCB design and teaches techniques used by professional electronics engineers. During this course, students design a complete, buildable smart USB thumb drive that is a four-layer board based on the RP2040 microcontroller, the USB2244 bridge chip, and a 64GB eMMC chip in a 153-ball TFBGA package. Each major design challenge in this project is directly related to the skills used in professional high-speed PCB design. This course examines BGA output routing, as the eMMC chip has 153 ball pins spaced 0.5mm apart and cannot be routed like conventional components. Via-in-pad techniques, dogbone outputs, and how to create targeted DRC exceptions in KiCad are taught so that intentional design decisions are documented rather than hidden. All aspects of USB signal health, eMMC line length alignment with KiCad’s interactive length adjustment tools and Net Inspector, power path management with the LM66100 chip, and four-layer layout with realistic physical constraints are covered. Finally, the project is delivered complete, DRC-free, and ready to build.
What you will learn
- eMMC chip routing: 153-pin TFBGA eMMC chip routing using via-in-pad and dogbone techniques at 0.5 mm spacing.
- Differential Impedance Control: Differential impedance control for USB signal pairs and path geometry verification with impedance calculations.
- eMMC Line Length Alignment: Align the length of eMMC data bus paths to within ±3mm with the length tuning tool and Net Inspector in KiCad.
- Power Path Design: Dual ideal diode power path design using LM66100 for efficient dual-port power management.
- DRC Exception Management: Create purposeful DRC exceptions in KiCad to document intentional design decisions.
- Four-layer board layout: Generate a complete, DRC-free layout for a 4-layer board in the physical dimensions of a USB flash drive.
This course is suitable for people who:
- KiCad users: People who have completed an introductory PCB design course and want to take on a challenging and professional project.
- Electronics enthusiasts and engineers: Those ready to delve into BGA routing, high-speed interfaces, and multilayer design.
- Board Designers: Individuals seeking hands-on experience in the techniques used in professional, high-speed PCB design.
KiCad Advanced: Design a smart USB thumb drive course details
- Publisher: Udemy
- Instructor: Dr. Peter Dalmaris
- Training level: Beginner to advanced
- Training duration: 25 hours and 29 minutes
- Number of lessons: 82
Course syllabus in 2026/6
KiCad Advanced: Design a smart USB thumb drive course prerequisites
- Basic KiCad experience is required. You should be comfortable with schematic entry, footprint assignment, and simple PCB routing.
- No prior experience with BGA components, high-speed interfaces, or multi-layer boards is needed; this course covers all of it.
- A computer capable of running KiCad (Windows, macOS, or Linux). No hardware purchases required.
- The free NextPCB DFM Tool is used for impedance calculations. A Windows machine or VM is helpful but not essential.
Course images
Sample course video
Installation Guide
After Extract, view with your favorite player.
Subtitles: None
Quality: 1080p
Download link
Rapidgator link
File(s) password: www.downloadly.ir
File size
27.3 GB