Hi! I am working through the circuit Arduino lessons (I can't wait to show it to my students) and the instructions keep talking about the schematic view at the top right. I only have the circuit view and the component list available. I would love for there to be a schematic view and soldered breadboard view as well. It that going to change? Thanks.
Amy
At the moment, we only have planned to move the Electronics Lab into Tinkercad from Circuits.io. The schematic and pcb editor will remain on circuits.io.
I am also planning lessons and have found that not having access to the schematic view is limiting. As a starting lessons, I give students two 1.5V batteries, an LED, 2 wires and a 330ohm resistor - so they can self discover the directional nature of the diode and how a single 1.5V battery will not turn on the LED. It would be great to show the schematic and how the LED symbol helps to explore the polarity of the LED. Another minor comment - your simulation still shows the LED lit with 1.5V, but hovering over the LED does not show any current flowing.
But, I cannot edit the circuits there on circuits.io. Please add the schematic and pcb editor here. I need it.
Agreed. It has to have the schematic editor to be useful as a teaching tool or as a tool for amateur engineers to use.
ciruits.io had that and layout too and part list. Tinkercad does allow you to export the design as a.brd format for EagleCAD, which gives toy the layout but no schematic. which does not help. Having a layout with no schematic is pretty useless.. Eagle CAD will make a board from a schematic but not the other way around. You need to export a.sch file. rather than the .brd file.
PLEASE put all the back into the tool. OK, leave the board layout out but put back the schematic and make the schematic exportable to EagleCAD then. Then one can still make boards.
I am pretty disappointed in this. because I had introduced friends and educators to it, singing the praises of it but now I feel bad. If I had known it was not functional like 123D, I would have thought twice.
Nick C.
Agreed need schematic view/editor for teaching. I was looking to use it more but will have to cut my lessons short without schematic view.
Please add back schematic view, thanks.
Jared C.
Confirmed I was able to edit a new design in circuits.io, but having followed instructions to migrate existing designs to Tinkercad, I don't seem to now be able to edit those ones in cicuits .io any more
Is this expected?
If you are not putting schematic etc on Tinkercad, ability to migrate the designs back to circuits.io would solve this.
We added the ability to export Tinkercad Circuits to an Eagle file, where you can continue in a schematic view.
Thanks Christian.
Checking out the designs I have in Tinkercad once more I see I can Export to a *.brd fl that opens fine in EagleCAD.
I also see I can download a *.csv file for the partslist, but I do not see how to download/access a schematic diagram in EagleCAD or other tool.
Please can you provide instruction so I can do that?
To confirm, here is what I found I can/cannot do.
I can view but not edit/use designs that I migrated to TinkerCAD while in circuits.io
I can make new circuits in circuits.io but there is no lab view.
In circuits.io I can make circuits(schematic) with layout and part list. If I want to build the board, I download a Gerber file.
In TinkerCAD I can make lab breadboard. layout and part list (for download as *.csv) and if I want to biuld the board I can download a *brd file to EagleCAD.
I do not see a way I can get a synchronized Schematic in EagleCAD for the *.brd file that I export from TinkerCAD. BUT I really want one as do others commenting above.
Thanks
Hi, everyone.
I'm the UX designer for the Circuits (Tinkercad and EAGLE) and wanted to provide some context regarding the schematics viewer – and also ask for your feedback!
We decided to remove the schematics and PCB tabs as Electronics Lab moved to Tinkercad in order to simplify the Circuits experience for Tinkercad users and also because we felt that the schematic tab needed some additional design work before it was ready for re-release (more specifically, the schematic tab always auto-routed connections between symbolic components, which led to legibility problems with overlapping nets).
I appreciate your feedback about the value of the schematics viewer. I am wondering what your opinions are on having an exportable EAGLE schematic versus having a schematic editor on Tinkercad Circuits. What were the features about the Circuits.IO schematic tab that you miss the most?
Looking forward to incorporating your feedback to improve Tinkercad Circuits!
Hi
This may be OK. I think it depends on what you expect the users of the tools want from them.
If I was designing a circuit, I would generally start with a circuit diagram after I had figured what my functional needs were, then simulate for validation. Then take the path leading to implementation with parts list and layout /PCB. (I am retired EE after 50 years - lol)
If I was teaching elementary circuit behavior (and I have done this teaching using 123D) I would have the students imagine the circuit and the component connections This, of course limits the complexity for the project. Then I show them the schematic function
If my Lab breadboard as constructed did not work, I would look at the generated schematic to see if it was actually connected how I wanted. So from that purpose, the schematic is useful.
If you can generate a linked set of elements that you can export to Eagle CAD for a schematic that might be enough, and if one wants a layout that can also be done in Eagle CAD.
A parts list is useful after both a breadboard layout and schematic stage
I can see the motivation for having a consistent functional environment across the TinkerCAD tool lines. - Design through implementation. But I would worry about having multiple tool sets with similar functions - is it really a benefit to supply and maintain all these?
The needs may be clarified by using a diagram that links Tool and user purpose and the flow of data that can be reuse in the next tool. And ask the question - if the user wants to do this - how does it work?
I am happy to chat outside this forum if you want.
What is the current process flow between tinker cad and circuuits.io to create PCBs etc. I have exported my design as a .brd file but don't see how to import it to do the layout. What am I missing? Thanks for the help. I am sure it will flow better when the functionality is in one place, but until then a how-to would be most helpful.
Thanks,
David
Hi, David.
Currently, we suggest exporting a .BRD file from Tinkercad and editing the layout in EAGLE. We currently do not generate a .sch file in the process but are thinking of adding this in the future. Hope that helps!
Hello, Christian Pramuk
Can you explain better the procedure to export a Thinkercad Circuit to an Eagle file (schematic) when you say: "We added the ability to export Tinkercad Circuits to an Eagle file, where you can continue in a schematic view."
Thank you.
I have to say that I was disappointed to find components and not diagrammatic symbols when I started out. Component view is nice for having an idea what your circuit looks like but with a diagram it's easier to see
* Which way round an LED / Diode is
* The polarity of a battery's ends
* What the legs of a transistor are
Among many, many other things. Apart from seeing what the component looks like I can't think of many ways in which component view would make things simpler or more helpful than circuit view.
When I found circuits on TinkerCAD I tried to try them out with a simple battery, switch and LED circuit. I was unsure if I'd need a resistor but I figured I should just try it and then simulate it and if it didn't work try again.
The push-button switch had 4 terminals. Without a circuit diagram I couldn't see how the switch operated between them. Did it connect all four or was it Double pole single throw?
I couldn't work out which terminal of the battery was positive nor which way round the diode was wired. I searched for a way to switch to circuit view to make things easier and came to this thread.
My view is: Bring back circuit view. I have very small knowledge of electronics but I remember from my schooldays where I had a tiny bit more that circuit diagrams helped me a lot. Using a component view to "make it simpler" just doesn't wash. The only thing I would use it for would be to see how to wire things after I'd designed the circuit. With both it'd be brilliant as it would allow me to put the LED/Diode in the right way round and then check on component view how to wire theactual component.
Please bring it back as part of Tinkercad. The beauty of TinkerCAD is that you could create a design from 3d printed / laser cut housing, to electronic components, to programming of the device (if it has Arduino involved or similar) all in the same interface, wherever you are.
Having to export to Eagle would spoil that.
I see all these comments fell on deaf ears, 2 years on and still no schematic view, the BRD export is garbage. If you have a space in your component names it fails to be opened by Eagle, throwing errors left, right and centre. When you edit all those and manage to get it opened all components are squashed together in a straight line up the screen and you can't see anything. Trying to move a component results in a "This component is off the circuit board area, please upgrade to paid version to move this". As a hobbiest and a parent trying to teach my kids the basics of electronics circuits.io was fantastic, I have no requirement for a paid version that I might use once in a blue moon. The move to TinkerCad has ruined everything, without a schematic view it's next to useless.
Plasma
Well, I still give lessons using Tinkercad, but they are a different kind of lesson, not involving design with schematics. More for people who want to work with components and breadboards in the maker community. It also works for teaching elementary maker style Arduino circuits and easy programming.
For Circuits and simulation you can go to circuit.lab (www.circuitlab.com) . It does not have the same functional models as Tinkercad. but is a more engineering kind of simulator.
But I totally agree with you on the schematic. I have complained before too - at length.
Maybe someone should start up something community driven and Open-source in competition?
OT > Why am I appearing as tr tr when I'm sure I set my username as SpirExDeus?
