PCB design file and Gerber issues

[alexanderwiller]

Hello,

while trying to get the Miniscope-LFOV boards manufactured from the provided gerbers, we encountered some issues:

• The gerber files do not match the KiCad project files (partially covered by Miniscope-LFOV issues（R23，R24） #1)
• The gerber files have graphical items in the F_Mask layer, i.e. silkscreen markings in the solder resist
• The KiCad project has even more graphical items in the F_Mask layer, namely almost all reference designators
• Pin 1 markers are missing for many components, they are present neither in the silkscreen nor in the fabrication layers. This was our starting point for taking a closer look at the design, as we got inquiries from the manufacturer.
• Footprint orientation of the blue LEDs is turned 180 degree compared to the datasheet drawings, which is a risk during manufacturing, as the machine-readable placement file will be 180 degree off. Also, in the 3D renderings, the blue LEDs seem to be mirrored.

From our side, the plan is to fix all these issues (most of which we have already fixed) and to provide a pipeline using KiBot (https://github.com/INTI-CMNB/KiBot) docker images to 100 % automate the generation of all production outputs reproducibly. As soon as this is ready, I'll create a pull request, so the effort on your side should be minimal. When this initiative is successful, it may also be useful for the Miniscope V4.

In the process, we will also convert the PCBs from KiCad V5 to KiCad V6.

To accomplish all of this, it would be helpful to have a few extra resources:

• Can you provide us with the library behind the KICAD_AHARONI_LAB variable, maybe by creating another repo containing just this library (ideally even with 3D models)? Without this library, we have to extract the footprints from the board, but they are already bodged up as indicated with the texts being on the Mask layer etc.
• Are there any pictures of the assembled PCB, so we could validate the excitation LED orientation?

Thanks in advance
Alex