We design PCBs in KiCAD, a free, open-source EDA that’s awesome. Head to kicad.org/download, choose your OS, and install from GitHub.
KiCAD takes a while to download, it’s got a pretty extensive catalog of libraries.
Submission criteria
Make a GitHub repo for your runtime project, and commit progress often! You also need to track the time you’ve spent on your Runtime board. Here are your two options:
Option A: Journaling
Keep a running log of what you worked on each session, titled by the date and how long you worked for. Each entry should have pictures and/or videos of what you accomplished. A markdown file (.md) in your repo works best for this. You should be journaling every 4-6 hours.
Option B: Lookout
Lookout is Hack Club’s timelapse-based time tracker. Download the desktop app, then hit every time you open KiCAD — it’ll open straight into a tracked Runtime session.
P.S. You can also use both methods if you want! It’ll make you get your grant faster and will reduce the chance of your project being rejected.
How to journal
And when you sit down to journal, write it like you’re explaining the session to someone else, not marking a timestamp. Worked on schematic, 1h tells nobody anything. What did you actually figure out? What are you stuck on? Every entry should have 2-4 screenshots of what you worked on, too (this is mega helpful when you’re trying to look back on what your thought process was if you encounter any mistakes).
Here’s an example of a good journal entry:
