KiCad Ground Planes Tutorial (1m)

NOTE 1: I should have mentioned in the video that you can force recalculation of these polygons using the "B" key (or whatever shortcut you have configured)

NOTE 2: In the video I was very careful to match the outline of the board. This is not necessary. KCcad is smart enough such that you can simply cover the entire area with a polygon and it will only fill the areas that are actually inside the board! This is especially useful if you're making boards with weird shapes.

A ground plane is a large area of copper on a printed circuit board (PCB) that is connected to the ground signal. The purpose of a ground plane is to provide a low-impedance path for ground signals and to shield the signal traces from interference. Ground planes can also help to improve signal integrity, reduce EMI/RFI, and increase the overall performance of the circuit. Ground planes are particularly useful in high-speed and high-frequency applications, where signal integrity is critical, as they can help to reduce signal reflection and crosstalk. It is also common to have planes for other power signals (e.g., 3.3V) on the inner layers of the board for similar reasons as well as to simplify the overall routing of the wires.

[BairdBanko]

Thanks, the recalculating with "B" is what I was looking for!

[robonemo]

thank you for the video short and good

[dangerouslyunnamed]

Great tutorial. It took you 1 minute... other videos take 11 minutes of BS and do a terrible job of explaining.