Robotics Design Competition

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Competition Instructions

Ready to get started? Awesome! These instructions will guide you through the process of building a board in Flux and submitting your entry.

Step 1: Create a Flux account & join Slack

First, skip the private beta waitlist and

create your free Flux account⁠

Then, join the

Flux Community Slack⁠

and introduce yourself on the #02-intros channel.

The Slack community is excellent for getting professional design reviews as you build your board. Make sure your project’s permissions are set to “comment only” and share a link on the #05-share or #competition channels.

Step 2: Get inspired

Here’s a list of example projects that can serve as inspiration. Remember that these designs can be forked and remixed to create your entry.

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ESP32 Robot Controller⁠

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Voice-controlled toy car⁠

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ESP32 Drone⁠

⁠

Step 3: Research & add parts

Once you decide what project you’d like to build, you’ll need to research the parts you’ll need. You’re likely to find everything you need in the Flux library. Be sure to

expand⁠

the library menu and use the

filters⁠

in the search bar to narrow down your search.

On the off chance you can’t find the part you need, don’t worry! Here are a few ways to get the parts you need into Flux:

Import a part - Flux can import parts directly from KiCAD

here’s a quick tutorial⁠

Create a part - If you need to create your part from scratch, here’s a

short tutorial⁠

Part request - You can get some help from the

Slack Community⁠

, just visit the #request-a-part channel and ask for help.

TIP: Use “generic parts” to maintain flexibility as you design your circuit. As you add properties like physical values, manufacturer, or package code, updates will happen in real-time to your project. Just look for “generic” in the part name and drag them onto your project!
Learn more⁠
⁠

Step 4: Draw your schematic

The next step is to drag the components you want from the part browser into the schematic canvas and wire them together! If you’re creating a daughterboard for an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or Feather, double-check the datasheets to ensure you’re making the right connections.

Here’s⁠

a brief description of the process if you’re new to Flux.

TIP: Special parts exist to help you with your schematic wiring process! You can try using a Net Portal to connect two nets at a distance.

Step 5: Route your board

Routing in Flux is as easy as clicking the glowing touchpoint on any connected pad. Let the airwires guide your work, and use the W key to cycle through trace width options! Ground fills are also enabled by default with automatic stitching vias. You can find more info on ground fills in Flux

here⁠

! If you want some ideas for leveling up your routing game, check out

this video!⁠

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TIP: If you encounter unexpected behavior during the design process in Flux, please
file a bug⁠
so we can help!

Step 6: Get ready for manufacturing

After you’re done routing your board, there are still a few steps to complete! If you want to make sure your design is manufacturable, it’s helpful to do a Gerber check. You won’t necessarily need to manufacture your boards for this competition, but running those checks ensures a high-quality design.

Here⁠

are some tips on prepping your board for manufacturing

Step 7: Make your project public

Once you’ve confirmed your design is manufacturable, all that’s left to do is make it public so that everyone can see it! See

this video⁠

for a description of all the sharing options. We recommend selecting “Anyone can view”.

Step 8: Submit your Project!

👏 You did it! Now, fill out this

form⁠

and share a link to your project. Don’t forget to share your project with your friends and colleagues to get as many stars as possible.

⁠

Submit your project!

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