Recommended software for designing device based on off-the-shelf modules?
Matias N. wrote 08/09/2016 at 01:50 • 0 pointsI'm looking to design a small device based on available hardware modules and breakout boards which I would like to fit inside a small custom-designed case. I will not be designing a custom PCB. Later I will probably also like to design a custom 3D printed enclosure. I would like to ask what is the recommended software for this (note that I would like to use free/open tools, preferably for Linux).
I played a bit with Google Sketchup (but on a Windows Virtual Machine) and found that on the 3D models gallery there are already some hardware modules. This seemed a good choice (since I also like Sketchup), however I wonder if there's any other software better for this purpose. I think the key feature is to have access to commonly available hardware components being used nowadays for Arduino and similar boards.
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I actually meant *3D* design (ie. how to distribute components inside a custom enclosure)
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Try out Fritzing. It'll allow you to arrange most of the common basic components that are used along with many modules offered by popular shops like Adafruit and Sparkfun (both of which design and release new Fritzing designs on a regular basis for their products).
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I second the Fritzing recommendation. It lets you design for the perfboards easily, and if you look around a bit, there are also libraries with additional modules. If you really can't find the modules you want to use, you can always just use pin headers in their place.
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