Pico Macro Keyboard PCB Design


Fresh-place the entire Pico Macro Keyboard PCB from scratch on a 100 mm × 100 mm rounded-rectangle 4-layer board.
Top side priority:
Keep the top side clean and user-facing.
Place the mechanical key switches in a regular macro-keypad grid with consistent row/column spacing and aligned orientation.
Keep the RGB LEDs visually associated with their corresponding switches and avoid crowding the key grid.
Place rotary encoders and any user-facing controls on the top side in ergonomic positions near the key grid.
Place mounting holes near the board corners and keep them clear of switches and encoders.
Bottom side priority:
Place the Raspberry Pi Pico / MCU module and the majority of supporting electronics on the bottom side.
Group the MCU, flash, crystal/oscillator, regulator/power parts, reset/boot circuitry, USB/support passives, and decoupling capacitors by function.
Keep decoupling capacitors close to their associated IC power pins, crystal/load caps close to the MCU oscillator pins, and power components clustered together.
Minimize estimated routing distance between the bottom-side MCU and the top-side switches, LEDs, and encoders.
Prefer moving support passives on the bottom side rather than contaminating the top-side visual layout.
Placement quality goals:
Resolve overlaps, keep all components inside the board outline, preserve routing channels between the key grid and MCU area, and maintain clean edge/corner clearance.
Use both layers intentionally: top for human-interface components, bottom for dense electronics.
After placement, run DRC/review and report any remaining overlap, off-board, or layer-assignment issues.
I've made a plan, and started work on it.
Prioritize USB edge
Set key spacing
Review placement issues
Mounting hole clearance

U1
R1
Resistance
200 Ω
R3
Resistance
27 Ω
R4
Resistance
100 Ω
R18
Resistance
470 Ω
R2
Resistance
1 Ω
R10
Resistance
27 Ω
R14
Resistance
Resistance
R7
Resistance
1kΩ
R5
Resistance
33 Ω
R19
Resistance
470 Ω
R6
Resistance
100 Ω
C1
Capacitance
0.1uF
C16
Capacitance
15pF
+1V1
VSYS
C3
Capacitance
0.1uF
C17
Capacitance
47uF
+3V3
C4
Capacitance
0.1uF
VSYS
C8
Capacitance
0.1uF
+1V1
+3V3
VSYS
VSYS
VSYS
C6
Capacitance
0.1uF
VSYS
+3V3
+3V3
C9
Capacitance
0.1uF
C10
Capacitance
0.1uF
VSYS
+1V1
VSYS
+3V3
+3V3
+3V3
+3V3
C15
Capacitance
15pF
C5
Capacitance
0.1uF
+3V3
C2
Capacitance
0.1uF
+3V3
U11
XIN
QSPI_SCLK
STATUS
ROW_3
U8
A_ENCODER_1
GPIO29_ADC3
USB_DP
WS2812_DATA
SWDIO
XOUT
B_ENCODER_1
QSPI_SD3
QSPI_SD2
QSPI_SS
ADC_VREF
WS2812_DATA
SW_ENCODER_2
COLUMN_0
U5
SWCLK
LINEAR
GPIO29_ADC3
B_ENCODER_2
RUN
U7
QSPI_SD2
QSPI_SD1
A_ENCODER_2
SW_ENCODER_1
ROW_1
QSPI_SD1
STATUS
U4
ROW_2
SWCLK
SWDIO
GPIO23
COLUMN_3
U6
QSPI_SS
XOUT
QSPI_SD0
ROW_0
USB_DM
U9
XIN
COLUMN_1
QSPI_SD0
QSPI_SD3
COLUMN_2
QSPI_SCLK
GPIO24
LINEAR
U10
C11
Capacitance
0.1uF
C13
Capacitance
4.7uF
C12
Capacitance
4.7uF
C14
Capacitance
4.7uF
C7
Capacitance
4.7uF
RV1
Resistance
10kΩ
U2
PROG
Y1
Frequency
12MHz
LED1
L1
Inductance
Inductance

Pico Macro Keyboard AI Placement [Example]