Flux Blog

Why Library Size and Variety Matters

As any hardware designer knows, access to the right parts can make or break your design process. When the parts you need aren’t available, you’re forced to create them from scratch or search through endless online resources, slowing down your workflow and increasing the risk of mistakes.

With this launch, Flux is eliminating these obstacles. Our parts library has grown from 180,000 to over 800,000 parts this year alone, making it the largest, most comprehensive library embedded in any ECAD tool. With more parts available, you can now design faster, with greater confidence, and the reassurance that every component you need is readily available and up-to-date.

Smarter Searching and Filtering for Faster Part Selection

Finding the right part shouldn’t feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. With our expanded library, you now have access to enhanced filters and a smart ranking system that prioritizes parts based on their relevance and popularity within the community.

Here are some of the powerful filters now available in Flux:

• Part Type – Find components based on specific categories.
• Manufacturer – Filter by your preferred brands.
• Mount Style – Choose parts that suit your mounting requirements.
• Package Case Code – Select parts with the correct package type.
• Availability – Check real-time stock status from your chosen distributor.
• Compliance – Identify parts that meet regulatory or industry standards.
• Terminal Count – Filter parts by the number of terminals or pins.

These filters give you the freedom to design with precision, narrowing your search to parts that fit your exact specifications and are available in real-time. No need to jump between different sources to check stock—Flux brings live data right to you.

Real-Time Data That Keeps You Ahead

The new parts library also include live data that gives you valuable insights as you build. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Real-Time Availability and Pricing: Know exactly which parts are in stock and at what cost, so you can make informed decisions without jumping between tools.
• Lifecycle Alerts: Receive end-of-life warnings and other lifecycle alerts right within the design canvas.helping you avoid outdated components and future compatibility issues.
• Detailed Specs and Compliance Data: Access part specifications, compliance information, and detailed package options.

These improvements aren’t just conveniences—they’re essential tools that save you time and reduce the risk of expensive errors in your design process.

AI-Powered Workflows for Deep Research and Optimization

To help you find the best part for your project, we’ve added new, advanced filters that make selection faster and more precise. Here’s a quick summary, but check out our tutorial for a deeper dive:

• Compare Parts Side-by-Side
  Need to weigh your options? Drag parts onto the canvas and let Copilot guide you through a side-by-side comparison, highlighting key differences and helping you make an informed choice.
• Ask Datasheet-Specific Questions
  Save time on research by asking Copilot direct questions about datasheet information. Whether you need specs, capabilities, or compatibility details, Copilot pulls the answers you need, streamlining your design process.
• Find Replacement Parts
  When a part is out of stock or doesn’t meet your needs, Copilot can suggest alternative components that match your requirements, keeping your project on track without manual searching.

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These AI workflows allow you to optimize your BOM for factors like cost, power efficiency, and compliance—all within the same tool. It’s like having an expert assistant by your side, making every design choice easier.

Ready to Start Building?

With 800,000+ parts and advanced tools at your fingertips, Flux is redefining what it means to design with confidence and speed. This expanded library is just one more way we’re empowering designers like you to do your best work, faster and more efficiently.

Open Flux today and start building with instant access to one of the industry’s largest parts libraries.

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That's why we're partnering with Seeed Studio. Together, we’re making it incredibly easy to bring your ideas to life.

With Flux, you can start with a ready-made project or a tailored template, customize it using Flux Copilot, and then let AI Auto-Layout handle the rest. Once your design is complete, Seeed takes over, fabricating, assembling, and shipping your project—at no cost.

Start with a Solid Foundation

The Seeed organization in Flux has everything you need to get started:

Ready-to-Clone Projects

These are complete, functional designs you can use as a starting point:

• Black Myth Wukong LED Art PCB: A stunning design featuring pixel LEDs and a Seeed XIAO ESP32-C3.
• WLED on XIAO ESP32-S3: A smart lighting controller ready to integrate with Alexa or Google Assistant.

Popular Board Templates

If you’re building something unique, start with one of Seeed’s board templates. These templates include footprints, pinouts, and configurations, so you can get to designing faster without starting from scratch.

Customize with Flux CoPilot

Once you’ve cloned a project or chosen a template, Flux Copilot helps you make it uniquely yours. Adding components, swapping LEDs, or refining connections. You can drop in new parts, and Copilot will automatically guide you through their placement and configuration, ensuring your changes fit seamlessly into the existing design.

1. Add Components: Drop in new parts and Copilot will help connect and configure them.
2. Modify the Design: Swap LEDs, add connectors, or tweak pin assignments without the guesswork.
3. Validate Changes: Copilot provides real-time guidance, ensuring your design stays functional as you customize.

It’s like having an expert engineer on your team, guiding you through each step. Learn more about Copilot.

Let Auto-Layout Do the Heavy Lifting

Once your schematic is complete, it’s time to move on to the layout. Traditionally, this step can be tedious and time-consuming, but Flux’s AI Auto-Layout changes the game. Instead of routing traces manually, Auto-Layout optimizes your board in minutes.

1. Generate Clean Routing: Auto-Layout finds the optimal paths for your traces based on your design constraints.
2. Ready for Manufacturing: The result is a clean, manufacturable PCB—done in minutes.

The AI intelligently routes components, generating clean, manufacturable designs with no extra configuration needed. During the optimization process, you’ll see multiple iterations of your design as the AI progressively improves the layout. Once it’s complete, you can review and select your preferred version, with the assurance that every option is optimized for manufacturing.

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Bring It to Life with Seeed

Here’s the best part: through the LED Remix Campaign, Seeed will manufacture and assemble your project—for free.

Create an LED-based design using a Seeed XIAO board in Flux, then submit to Seeed. Their Fusion service ensures your board is produced with high-quality standards and ready to use. Flux and Seeed work seamlessly together, with templates and ready-made projects optimized for manufacturing from the start. Export your Gerber files in just one click, and let Seeed handle the rest.

What you get:

• 2 PCBA Boards: Fabrication, parts, assembly, and shipping included.
• Free Flux Access: 2 months of full access to Flux.

Start Faster, Iterate Smarter

Ready to design? Here’s how:

1. Clone a Seeed Project or Template in Flux.
2. Customize Your Design with Copilot.
3. Auto-Layout to optimize your PCB in minutes.
4. Submit to Seeed and get your boards fabricated for free.

With Flux and Seeed, it’s never been easier to design, iterate, and manufacture PCBs. Start faster, and bring your ideas to life.

We believe that these exciting new technologies shouldn’t remain the domain of big companies alone. We’re empowering engineers, students, and hobbyists alike to take inspiration from the best in the industry and create their own hardware breakthroughs. Below, we’ve rounded up five of the most buzzworthy projects from CES 2025, along with tips on how you can use Flux to build your own inspired versions.

Halliday AI Glasses

Halliday, a newcomer in the wearable tech scene, unveiled its AI Glasses at CES 2025 . These smart glasses are designed to be lightweight and comfortable for everyday use. They feature a unique "DigiWindow" display that projects information directly into the user's field of vision. This display can be moved horizontally across the frame and twisted to bring the screen into focus, ensuring optimal viewing for different users . The glasses also include a proactive AI assistant that anticipates user needs by analyzing conversations, answering questions, and providing additional details without prompting.

Build your own AI-powered wearables with Flux

Flux offers a rich component library, including microcontrollers, sensors, and displays, allowing you to jump right into creating AI wearables. Use our AI-driven design tools to plan and design your circuit boards, then check out projects like the Biskuit AI pendant or a wearable AI camera, which features microphones, a camera, and wireless connectivity for running AI models. You can also streamline manufacturing by starting with one of our JLCPCB, PCBWay, or SEEED Studio design templates.

Alux Portable Coding Drone

A standout at CES 2025, Alux merges STEM education with eSports through a portable drone and a gamified coding platform. Not only does this drone teach programming in Scratch, Entry, and Python, but it also introduces an “arena” concept for drone-based eSports—allowing competitions and immersive gameplay wherever you go. It’s an ideal solution for tech-savvy students and recreational users eager to learn coding while having fun.

Build your own drone with Flux

Just like Alux’s portable coding drone teaches programming through Scratch, Entry, or Python, you can take your drone education to the next level by designing and building a custom drone on Flux. It’s a hands-on way to deepen both your software and hardware skills.

Clone an existing project like this quadcopter template or our STM32F4 Flight Controller Template to get a proven setup. Customize your flight controller, add sensors, and integrate AI capabilities using Flux’s schematic editor and AI-driven layout tools.

Honda Zero

Honda Zero is the iconic automaker’s latest entry into sustainable personal mobility. Unveiled at CES 2025, this sleek electric SUV combines cutting-edge battery technology, advanced AI-based diagnostics, and a modular design that allows riders to swap out hardware components and upgrade them with minimal hassle. By focusing on zero emissions and high efficiency, Honda is positioning the Zero as a next-generation commuter vehicle for eco-conscious riders everywhere.

Build your own EV-related project with Flux

If Honda Zero’s modular and eco-friendly approach has you inspired, check out our resources for creating your own electric ride:

• Tesla Roadster Vehicle Display System – Use this project as a reference to design custom dashboards, integrating speed, battery, and navigation data into a sleek interface.
• Electronic Speed controller – Ideal for e-bikes, scooters, or small EVs, this controller provides the fundamentals of efficient motor control and can be adapted to meet your performance needs.

Belkin Stage PowerGrip

Belkin, known for its reliable chargers and accessories, unveiled the Stage PowerGrip at CES 2025—a versatile portable charger with a built-in handle that doubles as a phone or camera grip. Equipped with multiple USB-C and USB-A ports, the PowerGrip can charge several devices simultaneously. Its ergonomic design, combined with fast charging capabilities, makes it a convenient all-in-one power solution for travelers, content creators, and everyday users alike.

Build your own portable power solution with Flux

Inspired by the Belkin Stage PowerGrip? Flux has you covered with resources to design and customize your own portable battery packs:

• Powerbank – A fully functional powerbank circuit board design you can clone and modify. Personalize the number of ports, battery capacity, and safety features to meet your specific needs.
• Battery Charger Reference Design – Great for refining your charging circuitry. Ensure optimal battery health, manage heat dissipation, and balance current flow across multiple cells.

Jackery Solar Roof

Jackery, a renewable energy company, unveiled its solar-powered roof tiles at CES 2025 . These innovative tiles are designed to be durable, weather-resistant, and visually appealing, offering a sustainable energy solution for homes.

Build your own solar-powered device with Flux

Jackery’s solar roof tiles are a fantastic look at the future of residential energy solutions, but you don’t need an entire roof to start building a solar project of your own. Flux provides a robust platform for designing and prototyping everything from small-scale off-grid systems to more complex solar infrastructure.

• MPPT Solar Charge controller – Maximize the efficiency of your solar panels with a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) design. This project helps you capture the highest possible energy yield by continuously adjusting the load conditions on your solar array.
• Solar power management board – Take your setup to the next level with this all-in-one PCB solution that handles battery charging, power distribution, and real-time performance monitoring.

Conclusion

CES 2025 was a showcase of incredible hardware innovation, with AI, sustainability, and wearable technology taking center stage. From Halliday’s AI Glasses reimagining wearable computing to Honda’s EV demonstrated the potential of eco-friendly personal transport, the future of hardware is here.

Flux empowers you to be a part of this exciting evolution. Our platform provides the tools and resources you need to explore and contribute to these emerging technologies. Start forking templates, designing custom PCBs, and integrating cutting-edge components to bring your own hardware visions to life.

Explore Flux's featured projects, component libraries, and AI design tools to start building the future of hardware today!

The latest addition to this library comes from our collaboration with NextPCB. Their new manufacturing-ready templates provide pre-configured fabrication parameters, reducing guesswork and ensuring a smoother transition to production.

Why Use a Manufacturing-Ready Template?

Starting from a blank PCB layout means manually setting up constraints, verifying design rules, and ensuring compatibility with fabrication processes. NextPCB templates in Flux handle these steps upfront, allowing you to focus on circuit design rather than manufacturability concerns.

Key Benefits:

• Pre-Defined Manufacturing Constraints – Templates include preset trace widths, via sizes, and clearances aligned with NextPCB’s capabilities.
• Reduced Design Errors – Built-in constraints minimize potential manufacturing issues.
• Faster Prototyping – Your designs are ready for production without additional rework.

Available NextPCB Templates

We’ve worked with NextPCB to create a range of templates suitable for different PCB complexities and applications:

• NextPCB 1-6 Layer BASIC Constraints – Optimized for cost-effective designs that meet NextPCB’s special pricing requirements (PCB dimensions: 30 x 30 to 100 x 100mm).
• NextPCB 1-4 Layer Standard Constraints – Designed for general-purpose boards to minimize unnecessary costs and complexity.
• NextPCB 1-4 Layer Complex Constraints – Supports advanced manufacturing features; suitable for more intricate designs.
• NextPCB 6+ Layer Standard Constraints – Geared towards multi-layer boards where standard design constraints are sufficient.
• NextPCB 6+ Layer Complex Constraints – Designed for advanced multi-layer designs that require specialized manufacturing capabilities.

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Example Project: IoT Sensor Board Using NextPCB Templates

To demonstrate how these templates streamline the design process, we developed a compact IoT-enabled sensor board using one of the NextPCB templates in Flux. This design also takes advantage of NextPCB’s latest Accelerator campaign, which subsidizes users who incorporate the RP2350 microcontroller.

Advantages of Using the Template:

• Correct Design Rules from the Start – No need for manual input of manufacturing constraints.
• Optimized Auto-Layout – AI-assisted routing helped achieve a clean, manufacturable layout.
• Seamless Gerber Export – The design was ready for NextPCB fabrication without additional modifications.

This example highlights how pre-configured templates simplify PCB development, allowing you to iterate and prototype more efficiently.

AI-Powered Design with Flux Copilot & Auto-Layout

Once you’ve selected a template, Flux Copilot and Auto-Layout streamline the design process, allowing you to focus on functionality rather than manual layout work.

• Component Recommendation – Suggests optimal components and connections based on best practices.
• AI-Driven Design Suggestions –Copilot provides intelligent recommendations for component selection, based on project requirements and schematics.
• Optimized Auto-Layout – AI-assisted routing organizes traces efficiently, saving you time and effort.

Exporting and Ordering with NextPCB

Once your design is finalized, NextPCB templates make the transition to manufacturing straightforward. With a single click, you can export your Gerber files, ensuring they align with NextPCB’s fabrication requirements. This eliminates compatibility issues and speeds up the production process.

How to Order PCB & PCBA from NextPCB

NextPCB has recently upgraded its PCB Assembly Quote System, allowing for instant, automated cost estimation. This removes the need for manual review, significantly accelerating the quoting and ordering process.

Steps to Order:

1. Export Gerbers, BOM, and Pick and Place Files from Flux – Before placing your order, export the necessary manufacturing files from Flux. Refer to Flux's documentation for a step-by-step guide on exporting Gerbers, BOM, and Pick and Place files.
2. Create or Access Your NextPCB Account – Sign up or log in to your NextPCB account.
3. Navigate to the PCB Quote Page – Proceed to the PCBA quote page.
4. Upload Your Gerber File – Click on the "Gerber Viewer" button to upload your file.
5. Specify PCB Quantity – Enter the number of PCBs needed.
6. Provide Assembly Instructions – Include assembly drawings, pick and place files, and other necessary details.
7. Upload Your BOM File – Submit your Bill of Materials (BOM) for component sourcing.
8. Proceed to the Cart – Add your order to the cart and review details.
9. Review and Confirm Order – Ensure all order details are correct before proceeding.
10. Select Payment Method & Complete Payment – Choose a payment method and finalize your order.

For more details, visit NextPCB’s official ordering guide.

Get Started with NextPCB Templates in Flux

Leveraging pre-configured templates optimizes your PCB design workflow by integrating manufacturing constraints from the outset. You can iterate faster, reduce potential errors, and ensure manufacturability without additional design rule verification.

Flux already offers a wide range of templates from leading manufacturers and community contributors. If there's a specific template you'd love to see added, let us know! We’re always looking to expand our library with designs that help you build faster and smarter.

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A lot has happened since then. Thanks to your feedback, we’ve been able to improve Copilot and add even more capabilities. Now you can use Copilot for brainstorming, selecting components, performing calculations, researching and selecting parts, managing BoM, and even validating designs.

We realize that writing a good prompt can be tricky, so we’ve refreshed our list of popular prompts so you can copy and paste, or modify for your own use!

What is a Copilot prompt?

First, let’s define what a prompt is. Copilot prompts are natural language inputs given to a custom-trained large language model (LLM) specifically designed to understand hardware, electronics circuit, PCB design and layout.

For example, if the prompt is "Calculate the load capacitors for Y1", the model will generate an answer in a human-like manner based on the prompt. Remember, Copilot has the context on what you’re working on. Copilot can see your:

1. Bill of Materials (BOM)
2. Netlist (Schematic connections)
3. Datasheets of parts used in the project
4. Project title and description
5. Any properties added to the project as requirements like power limitations or RoHS compliance

Because Copilot lives inside the PCB design tool, it provides direct feedback, advice, and analysis, and with your approval - it can take action, through a simple chat interface. With just a press of a button, Copilot can connect components together.

Most popular Copilot use cases and prompts

Spread the word and share your favorite prompts on our Slack Community.

From IoT and smart home devices to motor controllers and drones, there’s something for everyone. Plus, working on open-source projects lets you collaborate with a global community of creators, share ideas, and even customize designs to make them your own.

Whether you’re a seasoned maker or just starting out, these 40+ open-source hardware projects are sure to inspire and challenge you.

Simply open any project and fork it to get an instant head start on your custom design.

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Get Creative This Holiday Season

This holiday season is a great time to try something new and unleash your creativity with open-source hardware projects. Try Flux now for free!