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Tutorial: Create Your First Design

Prerequisite

You should have installed and set up JITX before starting this tutorial.

You can follow along with the tutorial in the video above. Below is a transcript to make the code and text easier to read.

Project Overview

In this tutorial series, we'll design an industrial sensing and control board with:

  • 24V power input
  • Gigabit ethernet networking
  • Microcontroller chain
  • Configurable sensors and actuators

This architecture serves as a foundation for various applications, from motor drivers to distributed sensor networks.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • Visual Studio Code installed
  • A JITX account (create one at jitx.com)
  • Stable internet connection for initial setup

Installation Steps

  1. VSCode Setup

    • Install Visual Studio Code if not already present.
    • JITX supports Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms.

  2. JITX Extension

    • Open VSCode.
    • Navigate to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X).
    • Search for JITX.
    • Install the JITX extension.
    • Sign in using your JITX credentials.

  3. Create New Project

    • Click the JITX icon in VSCode to open the JITX sidebar.
    • Click Create New Project to open the “New Project” page.
    • Click Browse to select a parent directory.
    • Enter your project name (for example, ethernet_io).
    • Click Create Project.
    • When the project is successfully created, click Open New Project Folder.

Project Structure

Your new project contains several important files:

ethernet_io/
├── designs/jitx-design/
│   ├── design-info/
│   └── kicad/
├── helpers.stanza
├── main.stanza
├── slm.toml
└── stanza.proj

  1. helpers.stanza

    • Contains utility functions
    • Defines resistor and capacitor sourcing options
    • Sets up Bill of Materials (BOM) formatting and CAD export
    • Other helper functions

  2. main.stanza

    • Main design file
    • Defines board shape
    • Contains circuit modules
    • Manages design setup (the name of the design is jitx-design)

  3. slm.toml

  4. Project File (stanza.proj)

    • Links local project files
    • Manages project structure

Running Your First Design

  1. Open the Design

    • Navigate to main.stanza.
    • Review the initial example code.

  2. Run the Design

    • Click the run button at the top of VSCode, or
    • Use Ctrl+Enter.

  3. Generated Output
    JITX automatically creates:

    • Schematic
    • Bill of Materials
    • Board layout

Design files for board and schematic are in designs/jitx-design/design-info.

  1. Export to CAD
    • In the terminal, type: export-design().
    • A KiCad project is created in designs/jitx-design/kicad (default from helpers).
    • All data remains local to your computer.

Making Changes

You can modify your design by:

  1. Editing component values
  2. Adding new components
  3. Running the design again (Ctrl+Enter)
  4. Checking the updated schematic and BOM

JITX handles component selection from your preferred suppliers whenever you update the design.

Tips for Success

  • Keep the design files open while following along with the video.
  • Experiment with small changes to see how JITX responds.
  • Verify your changes using the generated outputs.
  • Remember that all processing is local on your machine.
  • Save frequently and use version control if possible.

Common Issues and Solutions

  • Design doesn’t update
    Ensure you’ve saved your changes.
  • Sign-in problems
    Check that you are signed in to your JITX account.
  • Extension issues
    Verify that the JITX extension is properly installed.
  • Error messages
    Refer to the terminal for any error output.

For reference, you can view the JITX Project created from this Quickstart tutorial.

Continue to the next tutorial: Tutorial: Build circuits with code