PCB Ruler

Note: code for this project is available here.

Project Goals

The main goals of this project was to create a ruler with more footprints than the Adafruit PCB Ruler it was based on. This design also is only 101mm in length so that it can be built very cheaply at PCB manufactures such as JLCPCB.

Please also note that this ruler is for reference only, and should not be used for precise measurements. Finally, like the Adafruit ruler it is under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

Changes

The major changes compared to Version 1 (below) is that all of the parts used come from either KiCad built-in libraries or KiCad online libraries (Jumper.pretty and Package_BGA.pretty, with update scripts for the latest version included).

Other changes include reformatting the drill holes to go up every 2 interval, parts, the scales, a schematic for adding parts easier, and tying all of the pin 1s together to make it easier to distinguish which one is which. The ruler now has inches in both 1/10 and 1/16 along with 100mm along with a protractor with 15° markers. Finally, there is more resistors, diodes, transistors, QF* and BGA parts on the ruler along with 1 to 2.54 mm holes for pins.

Images

Note: JLCJLCJLCJLC option is for JLCPCB to place the text of the printing. If using this supplier, make sure the board is 1.6mm is width so it does not bend, and can also be added onto another order for ~$4 for 5 PCB rulers.

Version 1

The first version of the ruler only contains parts from the Adafruit ruler and a bit more information. It has also been adapted to the KiCad format along with being 101mm in length. The only major changes in this version is reorganization, moving some drill holes, and removing the Adafruit logo (but still leaving attribution).