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Show HN: An LLM-Powered Tool to Catch PCB Schematic Mistakes

(netlist.io)
55 points wafflesfreak | 2 comments | 28 Nov 25 17:30 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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wafflesfreak ◴[28 Nov 25 17:30 UTC] No.46080738[source]▶
Netlist.io is a web app that ingests your KiCad/Altium netlist and relevant datasheets so an LLM can reason about the actual circuit. It’s built to catch schematic mistakes that traditional ERC tools often miss, and it can even help debug already-fabbed boards by letting you describe the failure symptoms.

I built this because I was tired of shipping boards with avoidable mistakes — hopefully it saves you from a re-spin too!

replies(2): >>46082853 #>>46085448 #
1. throwaway31131 ◴[28 Nov 25 21:20 UTC] No.46082853[source]▶
Ingesting data sheets is an interesting angle compared to normal ERC, which KiCAD supports out of the box, but how good is it at the ingesting?

Datasheets themselves are inconsistent and incomplete so I’m wondering how you evaluated the accuracy of the import and what your acceptance criteria is.

replies(1): >>46083384 #
2. wafflesfreak ◴[28 Nov 25 22:33 UTC] No.46083384[source]▶
Hi! Datasheets can definitely be inconsistent, and that’s one of the tougher parts of doing this well. LLMs are very much “garbage in, garbage out,” which is exactly why the tool doesn’t search the web or pull from any sort of automatic datasheet library. It only reasons from the netlist and the PDFs you upload, so you stay in full control of the context and the primary sources it can pull from. If the datasheet is clear, the results are usually very solid; if the datasheet is vague, the model reflects that instead of pretending otherwise.

I’d really recommend trying it with one of your designs: upload the netlist + a component’s datasheet and ask a specific question about the part in the design. It’s the easiest way to see how well the ingestion works in practice. Would love to hear your feedback after you try it!