ESP32-P4 Board Design Inquiry
Thought for 5 sec
I’ll tighten the placement around the ESP32-P4, flash, DSI connector, and SD socket to shorten the unrouted flash/DSI/SD nets, then rerun the relevant DRC/airwire check.
Worked for 10 mins 46 sec
The first placement pass shortened the flash/DSI/SD paths, but it introduced a visible overlap around the SD socket and a Wi‑Fi edge warning. I’m correcting those before reporting the final check results.
Thought for 9 sec
Placement pass completed around the ESP32-P4: flash was pulled closer to U1, the DSI connector was moved closer to the ESP32-P4, display power stayed near it, and the SD socket was moved closer to reduce SD/DSI/flash airwire length.
Open items:
- I’m blocked now because there are no available ACUs.
- The placement pass introduced issues that still need cleanup: SD socket overlap, Wi‑Fi module edge/outside-board warning, and new overlapping-copper warnings.
- DRC/airwire checks still need to be rerun after that cleanup.
Suggested next steps:
- Add ACUs, then ask me to fix the SD/Wi‑Fi placement issues.
- Rerun DRC and airwire checks.
- Resume routing once placement is clean.
Fix and rerun checks
Fix placement issues
Rerun checks
Show copper overlaps
Optimize ESP32 cluster
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PCB Placement Notes
Board outline
- Board set to 85.50 mm × 65.00 mm to fit behind the Waveshare display carrier envelope.
- Corners rounded to 2 mm.
- Stackup set to Standard 4 Layer with layer 2 as ground plane.
- Universal keepout / board inset set to 1 mm.
Mounting holes
- Added four non-plated mounting holes as placement references:
- MH1: x = -33.75 mm, y = +24.50 mm
- MH2: x = +33.75 mm, y = +24.50 mm
- MH3: x = -33.75 mm, y = -24.50 mm
- MH4: x = +33.75 mm, y = -24.50 mm
- Hole diameter: 3.2 mm
- Pad/clearance diameter: 5.6 mm
- These should be verified against Waveshare's original mechanical PDF/DWG before fabrication.
Main placement strategy
- U1 ESP32-P4 placed near board center for balanced routing.
- U2 external flash placed left of U1 for short flash routing.
- J3 display connector placed along the bottom edge.
- J1 12V/GND input and D1 TVS placed on the left/front-end side.
- U3/L1/U4 power conversion cluster placed in the lower-left/lower-middle region.
- J2/J4 vehicle input connectors placed on the right edge.
- U5 CAN transceiver, U6 termination switch, and RTERM placed near the right-side CAN/display connector routing.
- SW1/SW2 and D2 status LED placed near the top edge for service access.
- Decoupling and support passives placed around their associated ICs.
Verification
- Layout summary reports all physical components inside the board with no placement overlap/out-of-bounds issues.
- Routing congestion analysis reports enough space for routing after placement.
- Auto-route precheck is blocked by virtual No Connect markers with position:auto, even though these are marked Exclude from PCB. Treat this as a tool cleanup/platform issue to resolve before autorouting.
- DRC airwires remain because the board has been placed but not routed yet.
Board outline
Mounting holes
Main placement strategy
Verification
