Open-source hardware

Sketch it. Describe it.
Build the board.

Describe a board. The agent drafts it in real KiCad, and nothing lands until you approve it.

Free · v0.3.185 · macOS, Windows and Linux

Toolchain

  • KiCad
  • FreeCAD
  • Freerouting
  • Claude Code
  • Codex
  • JLCPCB
  • DigiKey

Already in KiCad? Open your project as it is.

fabPlane bundles KiCad and works on your .kicad_pro directly. No import, no conversion, and your files stay yours.

fabPlane team projects

What we are building.

  1. CM5 carrier B2.28 Compute Module 5, NVMe, USB-C
  2. Combined board A2 LVDS display, backlight and RP2040 keyboard controller
  3. Battery board B8.2 original 2S pack
  4. Port board RH-A21.8 right-hand side ports

Placements illustrative

Shell colour

Laptop

A 2009 VAIO P, getting a new heart.

We kept the chassis, the 1600 × 768 panel and the keyboard. Inside goes a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 on our own carrier board.

Inside

Four boards, one shell.

Carrier, display, battery and port boards, joined only by off-the-shelf cables with one-to-one pin order.

Carrier B2.28 · in fabrication

Built in the open, one revision at a time.

Display and Compute Module boot are proven on the bench. Every board, render and 3D model is public.

Read the build

The carrier · VAIO P

66 revisions in 5 weeks. Every one kept.

Browse every revision
Render of carrier revision B2.24.1
Revision
B2.24.1
Family
B2 line · compact portrait
Date
Sep 2, 2026
Change
Top-side 20-pin HDMI FFC
Board
52 × 96 mm · 92 footprints · 6 layers
  1. Amber LCD Patch name and a 16-part level meter
  2. Volume and phones Front knob and headphone jack
  3. Eight keys Level, pan, reverb, chorus, mode, mute, part, inst
  4. Power and MIDI lights MIDI lights on incoming notes
  5. MIDI in · out · thru Three DIN-5 ports
  6. DA-15 gameport MIDI from DOS-era PCs
  7. Audio in and out Line in/out and two RCA
  8. USB-C power 5 V in
  9. Printed lid Lifts off; no supports needed
  10. Front panel LCD, knob and eight keys
  11. Printed base 160 × 120 × 44 mm overall

Enclosure v0.3

Print colour

Sound module

An early-90s sound module, built on a CM5.

MT-32- and SC-55-compatible when you supply your own ROMs, and a General MIDI module without them.

Rear panel

Real MIDI, on DIN-5.

MIDI in, out and thru, audio in and out, and a DA-15 gameport for DOS-era PCs.

Enclosure v0.4-dev printed · boards not yet fabricated

Six printed parts, no supports.

Fit-checked with real-size board replicas before a single board is ordered.

Read the build
  1. Rear serial harness J2 · TX and RX on the ESP32's UART2
  2. ESP32-WROOM-32E Wi-Fi to the PC
  3. CH340C USB serial for flashing
  4. USB-C Power and programming
  5. Controller harness J1 · CMD, CLK, ATT, DATA and ACK
  6. TPS2116 power mux Runs from USB or the console
  7. Power and status lights Green power, blue firmware status
  8. Reset and boot Manual flashing
  9. Memory-card contacts Eight edge fingers into the slot
  10. RP2040 Runs the PicoMemcard firmware
  11. W25Q16 16 Mbit QSPI flash
  12. USB-C Saves to and from a PC

Designs awaiting bench tests

Solder mask

Console

Every port on an original PlayStation, over Wi-Fi.

Through the rear serial port, code and game data stream into RAM. Harvest Moon plays from data sent over Wi-Fi, on real hardware.

Controller port · working on real hardware

Press buttons from a browser.

On 22 September a browser drove a real PlayStation menu: 17,913 controller polls, every button correct.

Memory-card slot · in design

Swap memory cards without touching the console.

An RP2040 board cut to a memory card's shape, with USB-C and a microSD slot for the saves.

Read the build

Design copilot

Say what the board should do. Review what changed.

The agent works inside your KiCad project with typed tools, not screenshots. Nothing is written until you accept it.

  1. 1
    Describe it. “Make this run for six months on a small battery.”
  2. 2
    Review the changes. Regulator swapped, reservoir cap added, load switch on the sensor. Three edits, each one a diff.
  3. 3
    Apply and route. Accept, then let the autorouter and DRC run on the result.

A few useful answers.

Do I need to install anything to explore?

No. Explore public projects in your browser. The desktop app is for designing and editing.

Does it replace KiCad?

It bundles KiCad and works on your project files directly, so you can keep opening the same project in KiCad itself. Nothing is converted.

Can I edit the boards in the catalog?

Some projects support local schematic edits. These don’t change the original PCB, 3D model or repository. Open a project to see its available views and editing options.

Who owns these designs?

The original creators. Each featured project links to its source and license. Check that license before using or adapting a design; appearing in the catalog does not make all projects share the same permissions.

Can I send a design straight to manufacturing?

The app runs manufacturing checks and builds carts for your fab house and distributor, but review the original files, project notes and engineering requirements before ordering a board.

fabPlane for desktop

Take it to your desktop.

fabPlane 0.3.185 · released November 7, 2026 · release notes

fabPlane for Windows x64 installer · .exe · 415 MB Download
fabPlane for Linux .AppImage or .deb · 435 MB Download
fabplane CLI and MCP server npm i -g fabplane-cli Docs