Category "For final assembly" in footprint "Fabrication Attributes"

[Stefan Hamminga]

In footprint properties -> "Fabrication Attributes", would it be possible to include a category for parts that will not be soldered (neither TH / SMD) but aren't virtual either? Parts such as fasteners, heatsinks, gaskets, pluggable modules, etc. These parts are included in the design for fitting or simply information storage (BOMs, etc).

For example:
I want to use a camera module (the Raspberry Pi camera without the daughter board). Besides including the proper connector, which is an universal part, I also want to be sure I position the camera properly. So I have a separate part 'Camera Module' without any PCB traces (just a 3D model and some some silkscreen marks) that I place, lining up the connector to match. This part is not virtual and definitely should show up in any BOM for the final assembly of the PCB.

[Jeff Young (jeyjey)]

This would be a board file format change, so will have to wait until next time we update the format.

See also https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/980919, which could be another solution.

[Wayne Stambaugh (stambaughw)]

@Jeff, I'm not sure this makes sense. I plan on adding support for
adding symbols that do not get added to the netlist when updating the
board so users can create BOMs that have parts that are not required for
laying out the board. I've never seen this done from the board side.

On 08/31/2018 07:30 PM, Jeff Young wrote:
> This would be a board file format change, so will have to wait until
> next time we update the format.
>
> See also https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/980919, which could be
> another solution.
>
> ** Changed in: kicad
> Importance: Undecided => Wishlist
>
> ** Changed in: kicad
> Status: New => Triaged
>

[Jeff Young (jeyjey)]

@Wayne, in Stefan's example he mentions wanting a silkscreen, so it would be on the board.

But maybe attributes are a better solution. There are a lot of different permutations here....

[Stefan Hamminga (stefanhamminga)]

Yes, not only silkscreen, but more importantly a 3D model. Very useful for interference checks. Another use case like this:
A while ago I built a vacuum gripper for a climbing robot. A control PCB was directly mounted on top of the gripper cone and had a pressure and distance sensor and surrounding gasket to seal the assembly. For obvious reasons it was very handy to include the seal 3D model to make sure I wouldn't accidentally place a via in the vacuum area. Exporting back and forth to MCAD would've cost a lot more time.