StripCAD - A circuit editor for stripboards

StripCAD is a free program for stripboard (a.k.a. “Veroboard”) circuit CAD running under Windows and Wine/Linux.

StripCAD is intended to accelerate prototyping electronic circuits. The fundamental approach is (1) unify circuit schematics and circuit layout, and (2) to minimize soldering by mounting components vertically and using horizontal strips for interconnections. Both I and my engineering students at Lund University have tested it extensively and it has relatively few bugs.

A typical workflow is as follows:

  1. Simulate your circuit, e.g., with LTspice.
  2. Draw your circuit with StripCAD. Use ‘z’ to zoom - pixels are small on today’s screens!
  3. Print the circuit as a PDF with StripCAD.
  4. Print the PDF on paper.
  5. Cut out a stripboard chunk of matching size. Heating it by a hair dryer first helps.
  6. Stick the paper schematic/layout to the top/component side of the piece of stripboard so that the dots match the holes.
  7. Cut the traces between the holes on the bottom/copper side of the board where indicated by ‘x’ on the schematic. This requires some practice, but becomes easy when you get the hang of it.
  8. Solder components to the board. Cut off surplus wiring and save it to be used as jumpers.

I started writing this program a very long time ago (~1986), so the source code is horrible, but on the other hand, it runs very well on old and simple hardware. It had its main boost when I developed it for the computer mechatronics course at Lund University 2003-2007.

File Description
StripCAD32.exe Latest version of 32-bit StripCAD for 32-bit Windows
StripCAD32.md5 MD5 checksum for 32-bit StripCAD
StripCAD64.exe Latest version of 64-bit StripCAD for 64-bit Windows
StripCAD64.md5 MD5 checksum for 64-bit StripCAD
manual.rtf Latest manual for StripCAD (also available inside StripCAD)
mechatronics.stc Example of a mechatronics application on a Eurocard-size stripboard. The board contains a serial port PC-interface, a 2-channel bidirectional optoisolator for the I2C bus, an I2C monitor, a microprocessor circuit, a strain-gauge bridge with an instrument amplifier, and a DC-motor driver.
breadbdx.stc Example of using StripCAD to design breadboard circuits



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