AI + PCBs

From Patrick Lidstone on the mailing list, 11 Sep 2026 15:08 UTC

Hi All
Has anyone else tried laying out PCBs with Claude or ChatGPT?
I had a membrane keyboard that I wanted to repurpose, scanned it, with a
ruler, on a flatbed scanner and asked ChatGPT to layout the PCB. It did it,
pretty much flawlessly apart from getting the overall scale wrong (the
aspect ratio was correct, the real life measurements out by 2.3x). It fell
at the second hurdle when I asked it to add in the diodes for n-key
rollover, but only because I had burnt the month's worth of tokens...
My work has a more generous claude allowance, but it (he?) seems to
struggle with the whole process a lot more even using the top-most model.
The first PCB had basic errors, and it has spent 40 minutes so far trying
to place diodes. I'm not hopeful for the end result, but I am seriously
considering a bump up in my chatgpt sub.
Be interested to hear other's tales - either way. I know a mate of mine has
also used claude to make 3D designs and that has been relatively successful.
Patrick

From Mike Wogden on the mailing list, 11 Sep 2026 15:41 UTC

Not tried AI for PCB layout, only for Arduino Coding of ESP32 Cheap Yellow
Displays.
Just one thought is the scaling problem: a Unit of Measure Imperial v
Metric as 2.3 seems very close to 2.54.

Regards

Mike G4KXQ

From Patrick Lidstone on the mailing list, 11 Sep 2026 15:46 UTC

Hi Mike
Yes, it's easy to sort out - and you are probably right about the
underlying issue!
I've had similar "luck" coding on the ESP32 - its phenomenal, I must have
done more than a dozen projects now of the 'scratch an itch' variety with
off-the-shelf boards, and it is brilliant. So quick and easy, even when it
comes to relatively hard stuff! What were you making?
Patrick

From Mike Wogden on the mailing list, 11 Sep 2026 15:53 UTC

Amateur Radio accessories: A direction aerial rotator. A DX spotter, Morse
Tutor, Various Bluetooth interfaces. Remote displays for my garden weather
station.

Like the process, the condescending response from AI, when you point out
something is wrong, is always quite amusing!!!

Mike

From Patrick Lidstone on the mailing list, 11 Sep 2026 16:22 UTC

Nice work! I did dx spotter too (for non-hams -- it's a way of knowing
someone is broadcasting on a specific frequency looking for interaction
over radio. The irony is not lost!). I've also done weather stations (last
xmas, for my immediate family, 3D printed Stephenson(sp?) screens), voip
phone, train-times display for my commuting brother & sister in-law, diary
companion thing for my desk with big-ben tunes that drive everyone else
mad, a PDA type thing, medication reminder thing, an easy-to-use music
player/streamer based primarily on album art and 'flicking through' and and
so on... I think the fascinating thing is the personalisation element --
everything works exactly the way you want, rather than the way Big Co
thinks it should work. And not embedded, but ham related - a complete web
remote control for my IC-705 -- probably the best thing I did in terms of
the thing I use most every day.

If I'm feeling sarky, I'll turn on Claude mode for my colleagues:
'Genuinely... ' , 'Sorry you're right, I shouldn't have dropped that
database. I'll do better next time' :-)

P.