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I have my students use TinkerCAD to make simple circuits. The ability to simulate Arduino code is a great feature. Now, I'd like my students to be able to make schematics that show how their Arduinos will plug into, e.g. a BT<-->Serial board. I don't need it to work in the simulation, or have a component visible in the visual mockup. I just want them to be able to have a nicely drawn circuit schematic, and get used to expecting that level of quality (instead of turning in napkin drawings for their final reports).

If I were using Eagle, Altium, KiCAD, etc... I would simple make a rectangle and label the four inputs PWR, GND, TX, and RX, and then hook it all up as appropriate to the Arduino. Is there a way to do something like this in TinkerCAD?

Kenn Sebesta
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    A tinkercad drawing is not a nicely drawn circuit schematic, it's a really messy wiring diagram. – Hearth Oct 18 '23 at 02:01
  • @Hearth for sure, but I like to keep in mind where where these people are coming from. We all started from somewhere, right? These students are likely seeing this kind of schematic for the first time ever, and many are unlikely ever to learn any prosumer/professional CAD package. The upshot is that giving them a set of tools to make programmatic schematics takes them from 0 to something greater than 0. – Kenn Sebesta Oct 18 '23 at 03:07
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    @KennSebesta You are not giving them the tools to make a schematic, you're giving them the tools to make a messy wiring diagram. With only a few components, it can be hard to see the need for making the distinction. Wiring diagrams have their place - for wiring up a plug-in board so that it's likely to work. But communicating, analysing, synthesising a circuit is best done with a schematic. The difference is like trying to read thgir ot tfel, all the information is there, you can analyse it with extra work, but it gets in the way and makes the job harder. Start them knowing the difference. – Neil_UK Oct 18 '23 at 04:45
  • Guys, this isn't helpful at all. If you are not familiar with the fact that TinkerCAD can make a full schematic-- not a hookup diagram but a full schematic like you would see from Altium/Eagle/KiCAD, then I'll ask that you take the time to explore the tool before jumping to conclusions. Here's a quick example of a TinkerCAD schematic, I hope it's helpful: https://www.cadforum.cz/img/tinkere1.png. – Kenn Sebesta Oct 18 '23 at 05:58
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    This is the problem with Tinkersplat. You start them off on something crappy and you perpetuate them into the real world knowing only crappy tools. If you are hoping some of your pupils become proper EEs then don't do this (in my opinion). Also, the drawing you linked in your comment was drawn by someone who doesn't know how to draw schematics properly so, there's another skill they should be aware of. If that's the best example of tinkleschplatt you can find then I'm sorry, but it's symptomatic of a hobbyist program. Maybe we can have a few hobbyist guys comment? – Andy aka Oct 18 '23 at 07:25
  • I must mention that the schematic you linked to (here's another link to it for posterity) is very difficult to read. The bulk of the circuit is pretty simple (ten I/O pins, each of which is connected to an LED, each of which is connected to a resistor), but that part of it is drawn in an extraordinarily convoluted way. Related components are placed far apart and unrelated components are placed close together. Wires take long paths with lots of confusing twists and turns for no reason. – Tanner Swett Oct 18 '23 at 11:14
  • Large numbers of wires are run parallel to each other, making it very difficult to tell which is which. Figuring out which pin connects to which diode, which should be extremely easy (because the pins and the diodes should be right next to each other and in the same order), instead requires solving a difficult visual puzzle. If you're showing schematics to your students as examples (and not as examples of things to avoid doing), I strongly recommend giving them something well-laid-out instead. – Tanner Swett Oct 18 '23 at 11:19
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    Not to be rude, but none of this is helpful. I understand some people personally dislike TinkerCAD, but there's no perfect CAD out there. We shouldn't have to justify why we're using a tool in order to ask if someone knows how to better use it. I'd appreciate if we could keep the comments section uncluttered for people who would like additional precision in order to answer the question. – Kenn Sebesta Oct 18 '23 at 14:52

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