Overview
============

Earthground encompasses a comprehensive suite of tools and libraries aimed at facilitating software-defined electronic schematics.

Advantages of Software-Defined Circuits
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Extensive Tooling
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Text-based schematics means engineers can leverage existing software engineering tooling to create error-free designs faster

- Use version control software to save progress, create easy-to-read diffs between versions, and do design review
- Use dev tooling like CI/CD tools to automatically run design rule checkers and application-specific validators to ensure a correct design
- One-click releases - Automatically generate Gerbers, pick-n-place files, cost rollups, power budgets, bringup test plans

Modular
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Finally have stable and correct part libraries and circuits that you can quickly piece together to create complex projects quickly

Extendable
~~~~~~~~~~
Earthground can be extended to many purposes because it's written in Python

- If your PCB being connecting to another PCB via harness, you could write an exporter so your favorite harness program always has the latest design
- If there's a microcontroller in your design, you could add an exporter to generate a BSP package or Micropython definition from the schematic that will automatically create a new file on every revision
- If you are concerned about supply chain and components going out-of-stock, you could have your schematic track which components are in stock and define part variations

Powerful
~~~~~~~~
With a Python backend, it's simple to create powerful component libraries that allow you to create complex designs quickly. Just read the datasheet once and you are good to go

- Abstract complex hardware configuration pins to the component library so your schematics are highly readable (and therefore easily reviewable)
- Rather than noting the position of every configuration on a microcontroller and matching it to the datasheet for every design review you do. You could review your component definition once then in every design do readable things like ``mcu.set_boot_location(mcu.EXTERNAL_FLASH)`` to easily catch issues
- Quickly set addresses are know they are right:

.. code-block:: python

    for i, device in enumerate(i2c_devices):
        device.set_i2c_address(i)
    
- Add validators for datasheet errata and buried issues so if anyone uses a component in a nonrecommended way on the current design or any future design, Earthground will flag it.
- Parameterize passive component selection for ICs
- For buck converters, Earthground can automatically size inductors based on datasheet parameters
- For LDOs, given an output voltage, Earthground will select the feedback resistors, round them to E24 values, and warn you if the result output voltage is beyond a specified percentage