How to install and use KiCad FreeRouting/FreeRoute auto-router (incl. manual board cleanup & DRC) in KiCad 5

Watch video above.
Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESrHILARL7Y.

I go through:

1) How to download and "install" (copy over) the necessary (and pre-compiled) freeroute.jar ("freeRouting.jar") binary.

2) (Briefly): how to use the auto-router to route a couple boards (1 trivial, 1 less trivial), including back-importing the routed boards back into KiCad.

Note: the crux of this demo is done by 6:00! By this point I have shown how to install the freeroute.jar executable file and use the auto-router to route a board! Feel free to stop at this point.

3) How to download the KiCad source code and demo project files (ex: to use as demo tools to test the autorouter).

4) How to work around a minor bug in the autorouter that sometimes makes it not allow you to output the routed board .ses file.

5) How to rename board layers.

6) How to do manual board cleanup, including DRC (Design Rules Check), manual trace modifications and dragging, Interactive Router Settings (very brief mention), board ground fill (brief), and how to fix ground fill problems such as floating fill islands which need to be connected via a few vias and traces.

7) The end-result is a nice, auto-routed board (auto-routing is so convenient!) with minimal hand-cleanup ready to be sent off to the manufacturer.

I'm super happy to have the auto-router working so that I can use it for quick-and-dirty jobs that require a faster design speed and less manual work at the sacrifice of a bit of perfection.

Thanks for watching!

Links you will need from the video:
1) https://freerouting.org/freerouting/using-with-kicad
2) https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-source-mirror

By Gabriel Staples
Written: 3 July 2018
Last Updated: 3 July 2018

END

Keywords: KiCad autorouter, KiCad auto-router, KiCad freerouter, KiCad freerouting, using the KiCad freerouter, PCB layout, DRC check, Design Rules Checking

Draft Time: ~ 3 hrs.

Recommended Soldering Kit & Tutorials (for Arduino, Electronics, & Radio Control)

By Gabriel Staples
Written: 14 June 2014
Posted to blog: 3 Aug. 2014
Last Updated: 26 May 2018
History (newest on TOP):
-20180526: Added Velleman desoldering review & link.
-20170415: converted basic Amazon links to Amazon Affiliate links; updated many of the solder links too, and prices on many links
-20161126: updated many links, incl the broken ones from Radio Shack; also added several new sections, including bonus soldering irons, rosin flux, high-power irons & torches, acid-core solders & acid fluxes, & how to tin a soldering iron tip.
-20141008: added an advanced "drag soldering" link at bottom
-20140905: added more soldering iron links, & solder tip tinner/cleaner link, as well as quite a bit more info.
-20140830: added more info about soldering irons "for Radio Control" use; also added "intermediate" links to the soldering tutorials section at the end

Related Articles:

• Heavy Duty Connectors and Large Gauge Wire, & XT60 Soldering Experiment - using my $8, 60W Hobbico iron from Tower Hobbies
• The Power of Arduino <-- be sure to check out the various really useful Arduino-related links at the bottom of this post!  They have helped me a ton.
• The Goal of a Lifetime
• Arduino micros() function with 0.5us precision - using my Timer2_Counter "Library"
• Arduino Power, Current, and Voltage Limitations
• Quick Tip: 4 Ways to Power an Arduino
• Parallel Charging Your LiPo Batteries
• Beginner RC Airplane Setup
• Thunder AC680/AC6 Charger & Computer Data-Logging Software
• All articles on my blog with the label "Arduino" - http://electricrcaircraftguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Arduino
• Thunder AC680/AC6 Charger & Computer Data-Logging Software
• Parallel Charging Your LiPo Batteries

Here is a list I put together to help people get into soldering & electronics.

DIGITAL GENUINE HAKKO FX-888D, from Adafruit.com

Keep reading below for more info.

A Few Tips & Tricks: Arduinos, PCB Tricopter Frames, Home-made Acid Etchant for Copper

By: Gabriel Staples
Written: 28 May 2013
Updated: 30 Oct. 2013
-added link to LadyAda's Arduino Uno FAQ
-added link to Arduino Nano V3.0 on Ebay

Other Articles You May Be Interested in Reading:

• Getting into Scratch Building - 20+ Planes with ONE Motor & ONE Power Pod!
• Beginner RC Airplane Setup
• Thunder AC680/AC6 Charger & Computer Data-Logging Software
• Parallel Charging Your LiPo Batteries

So, this month I've been dabbling into a few new RC airplane areas that I have previously not looked into.  You may wonder how these topics in the title relate to RC airplanes?  Well, for me, everything does :), so let's briefly discuss:

Arduino & Microcontrollers:

What is Arduino?  Well, Arduino is a small interface board which connects to your computer via a USB cable, and consists of an Atmel microcontroller chip, or "brain," which can do a variety of functions and processing, as well as circuitry to enable you to connect to it via a USB cable, in addition to a voltage regulator and input and output ports.  Basically, it is a development or experiment board which allows you to plug in sensors and circuitry and do anything you can imaging via your own personal ingenuity and programming skills---yet it is inexpensive and simple enough that anyone can get started.  It is especially designed for the non-programmer.  Here is Arduino's description of themselves.  A few things that make Arduino unique are its price, ease of use and programming, and the fact that it is open-source.  Open-source means that its parts, pieces, construction, and coding are all available to the public, and that its software is FREE.  This is the counterpart to "proprietary," which means that something is owned by a company and its internal workings are generally guarded and kept secret in order to prevent others from duplicating it.

You might not know it, but the microcontroller, or MCU, which is the heart of the Arduino, is a very common-place item in today's electronics.  Modern RC radio transmitters use them, for example, as well as ESCs (Electronic Speed Controllers) and "smart" battery chargers such as the Thunder AC680.
 Many UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) use microcontroller-based autopilots!  Now, with Arduino,