OLED on MacroBoard Help

[lofty grotto]

Hey guys, I'm new to KiCad and PCBDesign and stuff, I just designed this Macroboard with 16 hotswappable switches and to rotary encoders, controlled by a pro micro ATmega32U4 on the back of the pcb, all the diodes are also on the back. It is ready to go like this, but I want to fill in the space on the front of the pcb (where the pro micro is) with a ssd1306 128x32, how do I add this, because if i just added it like that, the pins of the ssd1306 would touch the pro micro. Any recommendations (also on improvements on the current design) are appreciated

[raw bay]

well what's the footprint of your oled?

[lofty grotto]

I was planning on adding a 4-pin header for the oled and just click it in

but I don't know if that's so smart, because I am new to pcb designing

[raw bay]

so what's the issue

[lofty grotto]

would this be a good solution?

the problem is, that i don't want the pin header directly next to the rotary encoders but with a little space in between, so I cant use that empty space between the rotary encoders and the pro micro (which i needed to reroute the traces, for the space to actually be free)

[desert crown]

Use a smaller arduino board which gives you more space? Although it looks like you'd have space if your oled had pins to the side.

What part do you want to use? If you can show the footprint next to it it'll be a lot clearer

[lofty grotto]

I didn't find a smaller board, but the oled pins to the side are a good idea. thanks, unfortunatly I can't continue today, I'll look after it tomorrow. If anyone sees an issue with my board (routing or something like that) please tell me xD

[raw bay]

plenty of space for routing regardless. As Wol said, show the footprint, otherwise I have no idea what the issue is

[lofty grotto]

Yeah you guys are right, but I don't really know which exact oled i want to use, as said i'll look into it tomorrow. I'll figure it out, if not I'm gonna ask you guys again. And to be honest, I don't even know what the problem is myself, i guess it's just because it's my first pcb and I don't want to mess anything up, so I just wanted more experienced pcb designers to look at my pcb and maybe spot sone mistakes so everything work. Thanks to you two again

[desert crown]

Feel free to ask questions in here. For your first PCB you're doing well. That's some neat routing, things seem to be laid out sensible, you've got the parts on the correct sides of the board! So you're at a good point.

I'd go with something like the photo attached, then you can stick your pins in to the left of where the arduino sits easily.

[lofty grotto]

Thank you so much, also for looking into my PCB, I also tried switching the microcontroller for a smaller one (Seed Xiao nRF52840 but there were 5 gpio pins less than I needed, it was to wide anyways) but the problem with the display on the photo is that I want to have the display a bit more to the right than it would be possible with this module. Do you have recommendations for a similar microcontroller, which would allow me to move the display slightly to the right?

[desert crown]

Depending on if that module comes with the pins presoldered, you could use a right angled connection / surface mount connection so that it doesn't actually go all the way through the board.

[lofty grotto]

I think I finally got it the way I wanted, @desert crown can you look at it?

Like a check before ordering. That would help me out a lot.

[desert crown]

That's just the top level project file, that's not the schematic nor PCB design!

[lofty grotto]

Oh, sorry, do I just share the entire project folder?

I need to share this file, right? I can't share the entire folder

[desert crown]

That looks good!

[lofty grotto]

Thank you, did you spot any mistakes? If not, where should I buy the parts for it? I know where I get the PCB, Display abd the pro Micro, but the diodes, hotswap sockets and rotary encoders? Where do you usually buy that?

[desert crown]

where are you based? Depends where you can get stuff from I guess! Aliexpress is probably a good start.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009438524436.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.6927153aFcerZW&algo_pvid=cfc4d623-14b2-4027-8574-d8b1caa2005d&algo_exp_id=cfc4d623-14b2-4027-8574-d8b1caa2005d-0&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"137"%2C"eval"%3A"1"%2C"fromPage"%3A"search"}&pdp_npi=6%40dis!GBP!11.47!1.99!!!103.36!17.99!%402103846917720381704946610e1ef6!12000049098614166!sea!UK!0!ABX!1!0!n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3Adbc3b04e%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895%3BpisId%3A5000000200748930&curPageLogUid=OphxdEBKtMEj&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A|x_object_id%3A1005009438524436|_p_origin_prod%3A

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007737001031.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.4.667b28cabrirJL&aem_p4p_detail=202602250852005914981903717000004232643&algo_pvid=08381635-44d8-425e-af83-92cc98eba2d0&algo_exp_id=08381635-44d8-425e-af83-92cc98eba2d0-3&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"172"%2C"eval"%3A"1"%2C"fromPage"%3A"search"}&pdp_npi=6%40dis!GBP!6.82!2.82!!!8.94!3.70!%40210384cc17720383205152804e8acc!12000042036189595!sea!UK!0!ABX!1!0!n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3Adbc3b04e%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895%3BpisId%3A5000000200748929&curPageLogUid=819XNXq4oOif&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A|x_object_id%3A1005007737001031|_p_origin_prod%3A&search_p4p_id=202602250852005914981903717000004232643_1

[lofty grotto]

I live in Germany, yeah I guess AliExpress will do it as always 🤣

But do I just search up the footprint I've assinged in KiCad?

[desert crown]

for which part?

[lofty grotto]

For everything, in this case only the diodes and rotary encoders

[desert crown]

Those rotary encoders are pretty standard type known as "EC11". You can choose knurled vs D shape shaft, different shaft lengths etc...

Diodes - yeah pick whichever diode you're going to use and make sure your footprint matches!

You possibly can find a mechanical keyboard store which just sells all the bits

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001994794541.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.7b127be9XOlfxO&algo_pvid=e5f14fd7-1874-4b91-84a2-aa2335958f68&algo_exp_id=e5f14fd7-1874-4b91-84a2-aa2335958f68-0&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"416"%2C"eval"%3A"1"%2C"fromPage"%3A"search"}&pdp_npi=6%40dis!GBP!1.06!1.06!!!1.39!1.39!%402103891017720411372491774e1cd8!12000018351925964!sea!UK!0!ABX!1!0!n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3Adbc3b04e%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895&curPageLogUid=OXiqbeQxaxfb&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A|x_object_id%3A1005001994794541|_p_origin_prod%3A

for the diodes, just make sure you match your footprint to the part you've chosen. e.g. SOD123 vs SOD323

[raw bay]

put some filled copper planes, that's a lot of copper to remove.

[lofty grotto]

Thank you @desert crown and @raw bay can you explain?

[raw bay]

copper etching works by plating the board first, then selectively removing copper. Chemical cost depends on copper removed. If you send in a board with just some traces and most of the copper removed, your board house will do it, but they won't be very happy about it. And for larger production runs will charge you more, or ask you to put copper thieving in certain places, or if it's a sh*t board house, they'll just add it without asking.

for you I recommend: draw rectangle with some margin to board edge, edit properties -> rounded edges, select rectangle, right click -> create from selection -> create zone from selection

set the zone net to GND, and set layers to F.cu and B.cu

should get you smth like this, and there's a slider for how visible you want the zones to be so that they don't distract you while working

oh yeah, and you recalculate zones by pressing b

[lofty grotto]

alright i didn't understand a single word, maybe i'll just watch a tutorial xD

Thanks anyways

[raw bay]

Well for reference: left is the way you currently have it, and right would be with a copper zone (soldermask removed in both cases for clarity)