3D models unresolvable in CI: footprints reference ${TIS} / ${KISYS3DMOD} (blocks STEP + 3D renders)

[ringof]

Summary

The main-release CI cannot build the STEP model or 3D renders: almost every footprint references its 3D model through environment variables that don't exist in the CI image, so KiBot can't resolve the paths and crashes on the step output.

• ${TIS} — Turn Island Systems' private 3D-model library: 193 model references (24 distinct files)
• ${KISYS3DMOD} — deprecated KiCad env var: 19 references (test points)

Of 237 footprints: 215 reference an unresolvable model, 22 have no (model …) at all, and 3 use absolute/other paths.

Evidence

Reproduced from a failing dry-run build (historical, on the ringof fork — the error output is what matters):

ERROR: Unable to expand `TIS` in `${TIS}/TIS_3D/R-0603.step`
ERROR: Unable to expand `KISYS3DMOD` in `${KISYS3DMOD}/Pin_Headers.3dshapes/Pin_Header_Straight_1x01_Pitch2.54mm.wrl`
TypeError: expected str, bytes or os.PathLike object, not NoneType   (kibot out_step.py)

Inventory below parsed directly from TAPRX-888.kicad_pcb.

Impact

STEP + 3D renders are deferred from the release package (the step/render_* KiBot outputs remain defined but are not invoked). The 2D JLCPCB turnkey outputs — gerbers, drill, CPL, LCSC BOM — and the schematic/assembly PDFs are unaffected and build cleanly.

Two categories → two remediation paths

1. ${KISYS3DMOD} — 19 test points (quick win)

${KISYS3DMOD} is the deprecated KiCad 3D-model variable. The referenced model ships with KiCad's standard library, so these just need remapping to the current KiCad-10 variable (${KICAD10_3DMODEL_DIR}), after which they resolve with no external assets.

Model	Footprints
Pin_Headers.3dshapes/Pin_Header_Straight_1x01_Pitch2.54mm.wrl	TP1–TP19 (19)

2. ${TIS} — 193 refs across 24 files (needs a decision)

This is a private/local model library. Options:

• (a) Provision TIS_3D/ into CI via a custom image layer on top of the public ghcr.io/inti-cmnb/kicad10_auto base, and set TIS — restores exactly what the designer sees; needs the files + redistribution rights.
• (b) Remap to KiCad's standard 3D libraries where equivalents exist (0603 R/C, SOT-23/23-5/23-6, SOT-223, QFN/DFN, MSOP/TSSOP, BGA-121, USB, oscillator …). No external dependency; several map cleanly, but each needs verifying.
• (c) Vendor the models into the repo (e.g. a 3d/ dir) and point TIS at it in CI — exact models, self-contained, at the cost of binary assets in-tree.

Suggested: do #1 now (trivial remap), and pick (a)/(b)/(c) for #2 separately.

Full ${TIS} inventory (model file → footprints)

24 model files, 193 references

Model file (${TIS}/…)	Count	Footprints
TIS_3D/R-0603.step	84	C4, C11–C14, C22, C25, C29, C41, C45, C47, C51, C52, C57, C60, C62, C65, C78, L1, L3–L7, L15–L17, R1–R8, R13–R61
TIS_3D/Capacitor_SMD.3dshapes/C_0603_1608Metric.step	59	C1–C3, C5–C10, C15–C21, C23, C24, C26–C28, C30–C32, C34–C40, C42–C44, C46, C48–C50, C53–C56, C58, C59, C61, C63, C64, C66–C77
TIS_3D/LQW15AN2N2G80D.STEP	7	L8–L14
TIS_3D/Package_TO_SOT_SMD.3dshapes/SOT-23.wrl	7	Q1, Q2, Q3, U12, U13, U15, U17
TIS_3D/Molex-SMA.stp	4	J1, J2, J3, J4
TIS_3D/Package_TO_SOT_SMD.3dshapes/SOT-223.step	4	U1, U2, U3, U5
TIS_3D/msop-and-tssop-packages-1.snapshot.1/MSOP-08 0.65p 3mm Pad.iges	4	R9, R10, R11, R12
TIS_3D/pin header 1x3 and jumper.stp	4	J6, J7, J8, J9
TIS_3D/Package_TO_SOT_SMD.3dshapes/SOT-23-5.wrl	3	U4, U14, U22
TIS_3D/sc70/LIB_AD8029AKSZ-R2/AD8029AKSZ-R2/3D/AD8029AKSZ-R2.stp	3	U18, U19, U21
TIS_3D/MBR120ESFT1.STEP	2	D1, D2
TIS_3D/ASTX-H12-10_000MHZ-T_ABR.step	1	X1
TIS_3D/BGA/Package_BGA.3dshapes/BGA-121_9.0x9.0mm_Layout11x11_P0.8mm.step	1	U11
TIS_3D/BUTTON-4p5X4p5.stp	1	B1
TIS_3D/Oscillator.3dshapes/Oscillator_SMD_Abracon_ASV-4Pin_7.0x5.1mm.step	1	U10
TIS_3D/Package_DFN_QFN.3dshapes/DFN-14-1EP_3x4mm_Pitch0.5mm.step	1	U7
TIS_3D/Package_DFN_QFN.3dshapes/QFN-64-1EP_9x9mm_P0.5mm_EP7.35x7.35mm.step	1	U8
TIS_3D/Package_TO_SOT_SMD.3dshapes/SOT-23-6.step	1	U16
TIS_3D/R-1206.STEP	1	C33
TIS_3D/SOIC16W.stp	1	U6
TIS_3D/connectors/USB-3.0.STEP	1	J5
TIS_3D/msop-and-tssop-packages-1.snapshot.1/MSOP-08 0.65p 3mm Pad.step	1	U9
TIS_3D/msop-and-tssop-packages-1.snapshot.1/MSOP-10 0.50p 3mm Pad.step	1	U20

${KISYS3DMOD}: Pin_Header_Straight_1x01_Pitch2.54mm.wrl → TP1–TP19 (19).

Notes for whoever picks this up

• A few ${TIS} mappings look generic/reused and are worth a sanity check during any remap: R-0603.step is applied to resistors and capacitors and small inductors (L1, L3–L7, L15–L17); MSOP-08 …Pad.iges is applied to R9–R12 (likely a resistor-array package). These aren't wrong for a fab STEP, but a remap is a good moment to fix them.
• The 22 footprints with no 3D model (test points/fiducials/mounting holes) are not blocking and can be left as-is.

Related: the provenance/release-CI work (provenance now delivered); STEP/renders remain the open piece here.

---

Migrated from ringof#45.

[ringof]

Proposed remediation (plan of record) — remap the standard models, vendor the few specials

After weighing the three options above, the direction (design-side; equivalences to be confirmed by the design authority):

No new repo, and no embedding into footprints. Embedding would stuff base64 model blobs into the .kicad_pcb/.kicad_mod files and make every footprint diff huge — that cuts against the reviewable-diff workflow. Instead:

1. Remap the standard packages to KiCad's stock 3D libraries (${KICAD10_3DMODEL_DIR})

Most ${TIS} references are standard packages — several already use KiCad's own path structure, just under the ${TIS} prefix — so they resolve from KiCad's shipped libraries with no repo assets:

• Passives: R-0603 (84), C_0603_1608Metric (59), R-1206 (1)
• SOT: SOT-23 (7), SOT-23-5 (3), SOT-23-6 (1), SOT-223 (4)
• Other: SOIC16W (1), MSOP-08 (U9, R9–R12), MSOP-10 (1), DFN-14 (1), Oscillator_SMD_Abracon_ASV (U10), pin headers (J6–J9)
• The 19 ${KISYS3DMOD} test points → remap to ${KICAD10_3DMODEL_DIR} .

2. Vendor the genuinely-custom models in an in-repo 3d/ directory

Referenced as ${KIPRJMOD}/3d/… so they travel with the project in git and CI resolves them with zero external setup. Short list (~7–10 files):

• SMA connectors Molex-SMA (J1–J4)
• USB-3.0 connector (J5), TCXO ASTX-H12 (X1)
• Likely also: LQW15AN2N2G80D inductor (L8–L14), MBR120ESFT1 diode (D1/D2), AD8029 SC70 (U18/U19/U21), button (B1)

3. Design-authority call — generic vs. exact for the two expensive ICs

FX3 BGA-121 (U11) and LTC2208 QFN-64 (U8): KiCad's generic BGA/QFN bodies produce a fine fab STEP; vendor exact models only if photo-accurate renders of those parts are wanted.

CI note

This closes the CI side of the issue. Vendored models under ${KIPRJMOD}/3d/ need nothing extra. The remapped-standard models resolve only if the CI container ships KiCad's standard 3D models (kicad-packages3d, ~1 GB) — confirm the ghcr.io/inti-cmnb/kicad10_auto image includes them; if it omits them to stay small, that's a _full-image (or add-the-package) decision before the ~190 remapped refs resolve in CI.

Net

A 3d/ dir of ~7–10 files, everything else on KiCad stock. No new repo, no embedded blobs, self-contained, and STEP/renders build in CI. The specific standard-model equivalences (e.g. the reused R-0603 body applied to caps/inductors) warrant a quick sanity check during the remap.

[ringof]

PR #58 brings in work that now relocates all of the symbols, footprints and 3D component STEP files into the repo:

3d/ contains the 3d models of the components, both the non-KiCAD standard AND KiCAD standard
(I found the need to bring in KiCAD standard models to quickly resolve an issue with KiBot not being availble with the standard component models)

/Library.pretty is now the single source for all of the footprints in the PCB design
Library.kicad_sym is now the single source for all of the symbols in the schematic