I’ve just added a new set of lectures to the course High Speed PCB Design with KiCad, and I wanted to share a brief overview of what this update includes and why it matters.
This course is a hands-on, end-to-end guide to designing a real computer carrier board using KiCad. The goal is not only to produce a working custom carrier board for the LattePanda Mu compute module, but also to expose the full engineering process behind it: schematic design, layout decisions, manufacturing, assembly, debugging, and real hardware bring-up. Importantly, the course does not hide mistakes or failures. Instead, it treats them as learning opportunities, just as they would be in a professional hardware development environment.
What’s New in This Update
In this latest update, I document the complete repair and recovery process for both the custom carrier board and the original reference carrier board (which I damaged while I was taking live measurements).
The new lectures begin with the removal of incorrectly selected and failed buck converters from both boards. I then show, in detail, how I rework the boards to install the correct SY8253ADC buck converters used in the reference design. This includes microscope-based SMD rework, extensive use of flux, hot air soldering in very tight spaces, drag soldering, and multiple methods for removing solder bridges, including solder wick and a vacuum desoldering tool.
My custom board required additional corrective work beyond the component replacement. In several cases, I damaged pads during earlier attempts, and had to repair this by using extremely fine jumper wires to restore critical signals. These repairs reflect real-world constraints and limitations that are rarely shown in polished design tutorials.
First power-up and boot verification
Once the repairs were complete, I moved on to controlled power-up and bring-up testing. The custom carrier board is powered for the first time after repair, and I verify core functionality step by step: power rails, fan operation, HDMI output, USB ports, SSD access, and firmware behaviour. This culminates in a successful operating system boot, confirming that the custom board is electrically stable and functional.
I then complete the repair of the reference carrier board, which proved more challenging due to its compact layout and limited access around the power circuitry. After replacing the damaged buck converter and verifying all connections, I powered up the reference board and confirmed it could boot.
Where the project stands now
At the conclusion of these lectures, both the custom and reference LattePanda Mu carrier boards are fully repaired, power-stable, and booting successfully. This puts the project on solid ground for the next phase of the course, which will focus on deeper functional testing, validation, and comparison between the custom design and the reference hardware.
If your goal is to learn not just how to design a PCB, but how to recover from mistakes and bring a complex board to life, this new content is a critical part of that journey. You will find the new lectures at the end of the course.
If you want to learn how to design a computer carrier board, now is a good time to evaluate High Speed Design with KiCad and enrol.