Footprint assignment

Before continuing on to the PCB, we have to Assign Footprints which basically tells KiCad how big each component is physically and how the connections look in real life to be able to solder it.

Since we're designing a flight controller, this has to be as small as possible, so I am going to be choosing the smallest footprints I can (while staying within good practices). The smaller the footprint, the more it can heat up and the less it can tolerate (for resistors and capacitors). A rule of thumb that I go by is any resistors under 80K I assign a 0201 footprint, over that and it's 0402. For capacitors, any bulk capacitors (capacitors that have high values like 4.7 µF or 10 µF) I usually assign 0402. Any bigger than 10 µF and I assign 0805, but it depends on the datasheet of the component. Under the application and implementation section there is usually a table that specifies which footprints/components to use.

Now all that's left is to finish adding the footprints for these symbols:

For the LED, I am going to have it in a 0402 package. And for the headers, I am going to use these footprints (basically the standard headers for jumper cables):

#Inductors

The inductors are a bit trickier. For this, you're gonna have to go into the datasheet and see where it says the size:

For that 5.6uH inductor, I am going to be using C18236327 (LCSC Part Number).

For the 5V buck-boost, I am going to be using C3033018. I also noticed that I had the inductor value wrong from the datasheet. THIS IS WHY DOUBLE CHECKING IS IMPORTANT:

For the final inductor in the battery charging IC, I am going to use C435392.