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.
USB edge access
Switch spacing
Pico bottom center
Mounting keepout

U1
XIN
+1V1
ROW_3
A_ENCODER_1
XOUT
B_ENCODER_1
QSPI_SD3
QSPI_SD2
WS2812_DATA
SW_ENCODER_2
COLUMN_0
GPIO29_ADC3
B_ENCODER_2
RUN
QSPI_SD1
A_ENCODER_2
SW_ENCODER_1
ROW_1
+3V3
STATUS
ROW_2
SWCLK
+3V3
SWDIO
GPIO23
COLUMN_3
QSPI_SS
QSPI_SD0
ROW_0
+3V3
COLUMN_1
COLUMN_2
QSPI_SCLK
GPIO24
LINEAR
+3V3
R3
Resistance
27 Ω
R4
Resistance
100 Ω
R10
Resistance
27 Ω
C10
Capacitance
0.1uF
R5
Resistance
33 Ω
R6
Resistance
100 Ω
C12
Capacitance
4.7uF
C14
Capacitance
4.7uF
L1
Inductance
Inductance

Pico Macro Keyboard AI Placement [Example]