User guide
==========

This guide walks through using padne to analyse the power delivery
network of a KiCad project — from describing the lumped circuit
attached to the board, through running the solver, to inspecting the
result.

How padne works
---------------

padne is a KiCad-native power delivery network analysis tool. It uses
the finite element method to simulate the DC voltage drop on printed
circuit boards, which lets you identify resistive bottlenecks, design
high-current distribution networks, or even shape complex heating
elements.

The PCB copper itself is meshed and solved as a 2.5D conductor stack;
the rest of the circuit — sources, sinks, dependent supplies — is
described as a small lumped network attached to the mesh via text
directives placed in your KiCad schematic. A typical schematic might
look like this:

.. image:: /_static/images/directives-in-kicad.png
   :align: center
   :alt: padne directives placed in a KiCad schematic

Every directive starts with ``!padne`` followed by the directive name
and its parameters. The complete syntax is documented in the
:doc:`directives`.

Running the solver
------------------

To run the solver and display the solution in one step:

.. code-block:: shell

   padne gui my_project.kicad_pro

You can also save a solution and display it later:

.. code-block:: shell

   padne solve my_project.kicad_pro pdn.padne
   padne show pdn.padne

For advanced visualization, export the solution to ParaView/VTK:

.. code-block:: shell

   padne paraview pdn.padne output_directory/

This creates a separate ``.vtu`` file per layer that can be opened in
ParaView for further visualization and analysis.

.. tip::

   Run ``padne gui --help`` to see the exposed mesher parameters.


.. toctree::
   :hidden:

   directives