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Designing a prototype on a single-sided perfboard as if it were a double-sided PCB

Tired of making countless wire jumpers on my perfboard prototypes, I decided to run an experiment to try to minimize manual work and improve the final appearance. The idea is to use KiCad to design a double sided printed circuit board that would ultimately not become a printed circuit board at all.

First, select a single-sided perfboard with isolated square pads.
Second, design a double-sided PCB, following these rules:

  • On the solder side, use 2 mm wide tracks, so that no track can pass between pads. Only straight tracks are allowed, with 90° bends.

  • On the component side, tracks must also be straight but without turns, and must not run underneath components.

  • Allow for modules such as the ESP32 to be mounted slightly raised, in order to leave space for components and/or jumpers underneath.

During assembly, the components are mounted first.
Next, the “tracks” on the component side are implemented as wire jumpers (bare or insulated, depending on the required length).
The modules are then installed.
Finally, the tracks on the solder side are realized as solder bridges from pad to pad, applied along the path of the corresponding “track”.

The final result proved to be very satisfactory: all components neatly aligned, no errors, no need to desolder and reposition parts — everything worked correctly on the first attempt. Only a single wire jumper was required when routing last track was not possible.

The attached images show the schematic of the implemented circuit, the printed circuit board layout, and the assembly from both the component and solder sides.