Julius Righa
Mechatronics Engineer | PCB Design
Mechatronics engineer with interest in PCB design, electronics prototyping, and IoT hardware.
About Julius Righa
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📚 Education Contributions
ATmega328P Breakout Board: Through-Hole PCB from Scratch
Design your first PCB in KiCad 9: a minimal ATmega328P breakout board with ISP header, crystal oscillator, power LED, and pin headers. Covers project setup, schematic capture, PCB layout, home etching, and blink firmware
Published: March 5, 2026
ATmega328P Sensor Shield: SMD Components and CNC Milling
Design an SMD sensor shield with ATmega328P TQFP-32, I2C temperature/humidity sensor, SPI light sensor, and double-sided PCB layout. Learn SMD footprints, fine-pitch soldering, and CNC milling for PCB fabrication in KiCad 9
Published: March 5, 2026
Code-Based PCB Design with KiCad Scripting
Recreate the ATmega328P breakout board from Lesson 1 using Python and KiCad's scripting API. Introduction to SKiDL for programmatic netlists, parametric footprints, automated DRC, and the future of code-driven electronics design
Published: March 5, 2026
ESP32 Battery-Powered IoT Sensor Node
Design a battery-powered ESP32-C3 IoT sensor node with TP4056 lithium charging, solar panel input, BME280 environmental sensor, and deep sleep optimization. Power-aware PCB layout for months of battery life
Published: March 5, 2026
ESP32 WiFi/Bluetooth DevKit: RF-Aware PCB Design
Design an ESP32-WROOM-32 development board with USB-UART bridge, antenna keepout zone, auto-reset programming circuit, and RF-aware PCB layout. Learn wireless PCB design considerations in KiCad 9
Published: March 5, 2026
Motor Driver and Sensor Integration Board
Design a mixed-signal board combining a DRV8833 dual H-bridge motor driver, MPU6050 IMU, current sensing resistors, and screw terminals. Learn thermal management, power and signal separation, and protection circuits in KiCad 9
Published: March 5, 2026
RP2040 USB-C Development Board: Dual-Core ARM with PIO
Design an RP2040 development board with external QSPI flash, USB-C, PIO breakout headers, RGB LED, and 4-layer PCB. Learn QFN package layout, high-speed QSPI routing, and the RP2040 minimal circuit in KiCad 9
Published: March 5, 2026
STM32 USB-C Four-Layer PCB: Black Pill Style Board
Design a Black Pill style STM32F411CEU6 board with USB-C connector, LDO regulation, and 4-layer stackup. Learn power and ground plane design, via stitching, impedance-aware USB routing, and advanced KiCad 9 layout techniques
Published: March 5, 2026
STM32 USB Development Board: Blue Pill Style PCB
Design a Blue Pill style STM32F103C8T6 development board with USB, SWD debug header, crystal oscillator, and 3.3V regulation. First professional fab house order with Gerber, BOM, and pick-and-place file generation for JLCPCB
Published: March 5, 2026