Pick & place

Generates the file with position information for the PCB components, used by the pick and place machine. This output is what you get from the ‘File/Fabrication output/Footprint position (.pos) file’ menu in pcbnew.

Type: position

Category: PCB/fabrication/assembly

Parameters:

  • comment : [string=’’] A comment for documentation purposes. It helps to identify the output.

  • dir : [string=’./’] Output directory for the generated files. If it starts with + the rest is concatenated to the default dir.

  • name : [string=’’] Used to identify this particular output definition. Avoid using _ as first character. These names are reserved for KiBot.

  • options : [dict] Options for the position output.

    • Valid keys:

      • format : [string=’ASCII’] [ASCII,CSV] Format for the position file.

      • only_smd : [boolean=true] Only include the surface mount components.

      • output : [string=’%f-%i%I%v.%x’] Output file name (%i=’top_pos’|’bottom_pos’|’both_pos’, %x=’pos’|’csv’). Important: when using separate files you must use %i to differentiate them. Affected by global options.

      • separate_files_for_front_and_back : [boolean=true] Generate two separated files, one for the top and another for the bottom.

      • units : [string=’millimeters’] [millimeters,inches,mils] Units used for the positions. Affected by global options.

      • bottom_negative_x : [boolean=false] Use negative X coordinates for footprints on bottom layer.

      • columns : [list(dict)|list(string)] Which columns are included in the output.

        • Valid keys:

          • id : [string=’’] [Ref,Val,Package,PosX,PosY,Rot,Side] Internal name.

          • name : [string=’’] Name to use in the output file. The id is used when empty.

      • dnf_filter : [string|list(string)=’_none’] Name of the filter to mark components as not fitted. A short-cut to use for simple cases where a variant is an overkill.

      • include_virtual : [boolean=false] Include virtual components. For special purposes, not pick & place. Note that virtual components is a KiCad 5 concept. For KiCad 6+ we replace this concept by the option to exclude from position file.

      • pre_transform : [string|list(string)=’_none’] Name of the filter to transform fields before applying other filters. A short-cut to use for simple cases where a variant is an overkill.

      • quote_all : [boolean=false] When generating the CSV quote all values, even numbers.

      • right_digits : [number=4] number of digits for mantissa part of coordinates (0 is auto).

      • use_aux_axis_as_origin : [boolean=true] Use the auxiliary axis as origin for coordinates (KiCad default).

      • variant : [string=’’] Board variant to apply.

  • type : [string=’’] Type of output.

  • category : [string|list(string)=’’] The category for this output. If not specified an internally defined category is used. Categories looks like file system paths, i.e. PCB/fabrication/gerber. The categories are currently used for navigate_results.

  • disable_run_by_default : [string|boolean] Use it to disable the run_by_default status of other output. Useful when this output extends another and you don’t want to generate the original. Use the boolean true value to disable the output you are extending.

  • extends : [string=’’] Copy the options section from the indicated output. Used to inherit options from another output of the same type.

  • groups : [string|list(string)=’’] One or more groups to add this output. In order to catch typos we recommend to add outputs only to existing groups. You can create an empty group if needed.

  • output_id : [string=’’] Text to use for the %I expansion content. To differentiate variations of this output.

  • priority : [number=50] [0,100] Priority for this output. High priority outputs are created first. Internally we use 10 for low priority, 90 for high priority and 50 for most outputs.

  • run_by_default : [boolean=true] When enabled this output will be created when no specific outputs are requested.