rectify

rectify checks and corrects the rotation and offset of STEP models referenced by KiCad footprints. It infers the transform from model geometry and the footprint's copper pads and drilled holes.

Check and fix footprints

Run check before changing any files:

pcb rectify check path/to/components/
pcb rectify check path/to/components/ --jsonl
pcb rectify check path/to/components/ --strict

The command searches directories recursively for .kicad_mod files. Use --kind smd, --kind tht, or --kind mixed to restrict the footprint type. --jsonl writes machine-readable findings and correction candidates.

Apply the proposed transforms only after reviewing the check output:

pcb rectify fix path/to/components/

fix rewrites the (rotate ...) and (offset ...) values in every flagged footprint. Commit or back up the source files before running it.

The default comparison permits a Z-axis-equivalent rotation and an offset error of at most 0.20 mm on each axis. --strict requires the exact stored rotation and reduces the offset limit to 0.10 mm.

Solver model

For each footprint, the solver:

Reads its pads, holes, and referenced or embedded STEP model.
Tessellates the STEP model into triangles.
Evaluates the 24 axis-aligned rotations supported by KiCad.
Rasterizes each rotation into a 0.10 mm bottom-height image.
Extracts candidate contact or pin features.
Aligns those features with the footprint and selects the highest-scoring rotation and translation.

The feature extraction depends on the footprint type:

SMD footprints use low model surfaces as contact features and align them with copper pads.
Through-hole footprints extract connected pin islands from low model cross-sections and align them with connected drill holes. Mechanical holes affect tie-breaking but do not control the initial alignment.
Mixed footprints use hole alignment as the primary signal and pad contact as an additional score.

The solver rejects or penalizes poses with missing pad or hole coverage, contacts outside their expected targets, or an implausible support plane.

Developer commands

The pcb-rectify binary also provides solve, patch, audit, and bench for solver development. These commands are hidden from the normal pcb rectify --help output. Set RUST_LOG=warn or a narrower filter to enable diagnostic logging.

Benchmark the solver

bench compares inferred transforms with the transforms stored in a set of footprints. It replaces each stored transform with a deterministic randomized starting transform before solving, so the benchmark measures geometry-based inference rather than preservation of the existing value.

pcb-rectify bench path/to/components
pcb-rectify bench path/to/components --mode strict
pcb-rectify bench path/to/components --kind smd
pcb-rectify bench path/to/components --initial-transform-seed 2
pcb-rectify bench path/to/components --jsonl

Use --use-stored-initial-transform only when comparing against the older benchmark behavior. The benchmark reports pass rate, reward score, exact rotation rate, high-percentile offset error, and per-footprint-type results.

Source layout

Module	Responsibility
`footprint`	Parse footprints and load embedded or referenced STEP data.
`mesh`	Tessellate STEP geometry.
`pose`	Generate KiCad-compatible axis-aligned rotations.
`raster`	Build pad, hole, contact, and pin masks.
`solver`	Evaluate poses, translations, support planes, and scores.
`bench`	Compare inferred and stored transforms.
`patch`	Rewrite footprint model transforms.

Run the crate tests with:

cargo test -p rectify

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