Please contribute these to the KiCad library

[WardBenjamin]

Having the MX/Alps switches present in the KiCad standard library would make project setup easier and make it so that there is one single source of truth for the footprint across the community. Plain MX switches and Matias switches have already been contributed.

You can open a pull request for the Button_Switch_Keyboard library at the official repository here: https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-footprints.

I would also be happy to do this if necessary.

[egladman]

Cool idea. I hadn't considered this. I'll look into it this weekend.

[egladman]

I've gone ahead and drafted a TODO. Not sure when I'll get to this.

For reference here's the kicad switch library: Button_Switch_Keyboard.pretty

What needs to be done:

• Rename keebs.pretty footprints to compliment existing KiCad switch footprints
  • Example: Mx_Alps_100.kicad_mod to SW_Cherry_MX_Matias_Hybrid_1.00u_PCB.kicad_mod
• Verify Pad Numbers are ordered correctly compared to existing KiCad switch footprints
• Create branch with changes listed above
• Submit PR to https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-footprints

[WardBenjamin]

I'm going to go ahead and link this to ai03-2725/MX_Alps_Hybrid#15 since a similar effort is going on there. In that PR we've put together a similar set of hybrid switches that use two distinct holes for pin 1 since it allows for more accurate and consistent mounting while still keeping the hybrid pinout.

It could be good to have both options in the standard library. I'd be happy to help out with this.

[egladman]

That's fine, I'm all for more options. That's the beauty of open software.

The oval pads were a design decision I made early on. Since most switches are packaged in large bags, pins inevitably get bent. Instead of meticulously straightening pins I opted for the current design. Less work on my end. I've yet to run into any issues with the looser tolerances since I either use PCB mounted switches or a plate. To each their own.

If both footprint libraries are to make into the standard library it makes since to name them something like: SW_Cherry_MX_Matias_Hybrid_Oval_1.00u_PCB.kicad_mod. I know some pcb manufactures can't do oval pads, but I've yet to encounter issues at my fab shops.

[egladman]

Had some spare time this morning. So i knocked it out. I made a few tweaks to the footprints to comply with footprint conventions. See branch: std-lib-prep

[perigoso]

I'm starting an effort to merge the library @WardBenjamin mentioned to the official libraries ai03-2725/MX_Alps_Hybrid#11, just commenting to avoid duplicate work.