🧭 Winding Generator — KiCad Action Plugin

This KiCad pcbnew Action Plugin generates planar magnetic windings (rectangular spiral inductors/transformers) directly in the PCB editor.

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✨ Features

• Rectangular spiral with rounded corners
• Adjustable parameters:
  • Width & Height (Core leg)
  • Corner Radius
  • Track Width
  • Track Spacing (Turn-Turn)
  • Inner Spacing (Turn-Core)
  • Number of Turns
  • Start position: Left-Top / Left-Center / Left-Bottom
• Pick center using the mouse on the canvas
• Works with KiCad 7 / 8 / 9
• Toolbar icon included
• Simple installer script

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📦 Repository Structure

winding-generator/

1. winding_generator.py # Main KiCad Action Plugin (Python)
2. install_to_kicad_plugin.py # One-click installer (asks for plugin folder)
3. icon.png # Toolbar icon

🧰 Requirements

• KiCad
• Python
• Windows / macOS / Linux

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⚙️ Installation (Recommended)

1. Clone the repository.
2. Run the installer file, which is "install_to_kicad_plugin.py".

• A folder picker will ask for your KiCad plugins directory.
  If you don’t know it, open KiCad PCB Editor and go to: Tools → External Plugins → Open Plugin Directory, then copy that path into the picker.
• The installer saves your choice and can guess common locations next time.
• It copies:
  • winding_generator.py
  • icon.png into your KiCad plugins folder.

3. Refresh in KiCad

• In KiCad PCB Editor: Tools → External Plugins → Refresh Plugins
• You should see “Winding Generator” in the menu and a red winding toolbar icon.

Tip: If the plugin doesn’t appear immediately, restart KiCad.

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🖥️ How to Use

1. Open your board in KiCad PCB Editor.
2. Click the Winding Generator toolbar icon (red spiral) or run it from
   Tools → External Plugins → Winding Generator.
3. In the dialog:
   • Enter the center point of the winding Center X, Center Y.
   • Set the Radius, Turn-Core (clearance), Track Width, Turn-Turn (spacing).
   • Set the Width, Height, Turns
   • Choose Start position (Left-Top / Left-Center / Left-Bottom).
   • Select the Layer (e.g., F.Cu).
4. Click OK. The spiral is drawn as TRACKs and 90° ARCs on the chosen layer.

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🔧 Parameters (Quick Reference)

Field	Meaning
Center X/Y (mm)	Spiral center. Enter X and Y position in mm.
Width (mm)	Width of the core leg (Diameter for round core leg).
Height (mm)	Height of the core leg (Diameter for round core leg).
Radius (mm)	Corner radius.
Turn-Core (mm)	Inner clearance from the core to the first turn.
Width (mm)	Track width (copper trace width).
Turn-Turn (mm)	Track-to-track spacing between adjacent turns.
Turns	Number of spiral turns.
Start Position	Left-Top / Left-Center / Left-Bottom path start.
Layer	Target copper layer (F.Cu, B.Cu, In1.Cu, …).

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🛠️ Installer Script (Details)

You can re-run the installer any time, but do not forget to update the plugin in Kickad.

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📄 License

MIT License.

🔗 Related Work

Similar planar inductor / spiral generation tools exist for other EDA platforms. In particular, Altium Designer users may refer to:

• https://github.com/Altium-Designer-addons/scripts-libraries

which contains PCB scripting utilities, including scripts for generating spiral / planar inductor geometries inside Altium Designer.

For KiCad users interested in circular spiral geometries, the following plugin may also be useful:

• https://github.com/tristanitschner/kicad_spiral_plugin It can be useful when designing circular planar inductors or spiral coils, whereas this project focuses on rectangular planar winding geometries.

👤 Author

Developed by Othman Abujazar
University of Paderborn — Planar Winding Generator for KiCad.

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