Speakers
Description
We present an offline AI assistant that uses open-source tools to help with the design and debugging of electronic circuits. The system works with eSim, an Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software that was made as part of the FOSSEE project at IIT Bombay by integrating various Open Source tools like KiCad, Ngspice, GHDL, Verilator and many more. This program encourages students and teachers in resource-limited settings to use free and open-source software to get around problems they face. It is aimed at people in areas with poor internet access and schools like tier-3 colleges that can't afford expensive proprietary EDA tools. This makes it possible for everyone to have access to high-quality circuit design workflows.
Traditional EDA workflows, on the other hand, often include complicated toolchains, hard-to-understand simulation errors, and a lot of manual work to fix them. These problems are even worse for new designers and students who don't have access to commercial support. Our assistant solves these problems by giving automated, easy-to-understand help throughout the whole design process.
The assistant uses a modular pipeline that works well on low-end hardware and doesn't need an internet connection to work. An automated watcher service keeps an eye on file changes in popular tools like KiCad and Ngspice. When it sees a change, it parses netlists and error logs to keep design states and diagnostics up to date. OpenCV is used for visual support, which lets users monitor schematics based on images, recognize components, and check layouts to find and fix design mistakes early on. The user interface is meant to work well in both terminal-based and graphical environments. It is designed to work with the most common Linux distributions used in schools.
The assistant uses a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) framework to give high-quality, context-aware answers when people talk to it in natural language. A vector-search retrieval system keeps track of local documentation and domain-specific knowledge bases. This lets the query generation module put together structured prompts. The Qwen 1.8B language model processes these, which are hosted locally by the Ollama framework. The fact that it works completely offline protects users' privacy and lets them use chain-of-thought reasoning to get detailed, step-by-step explanations for fixing designs, figuring out simulation errors, analyzing logic, and evaluating circuits. A session-based memory module keeps conversations going, so users can build complex designs step by step with the same help each time.
The assistant makes advanced circuit design workflows easier to access, faster, and easier to debug by combining multimodal analysis, semantic retrieval, and fully offline language-model inference into one workflow. This helps make modern circuit design and prototyping more accessible to everyone by lowering design mistakes, speeding up development cycles, and helping students and teachers learn new skills when they can't afford expensive tools or have reliable internet.
Keywords: Electronic Design Automation, offline AI, circuit debugging, eSim, Qwen LLM, OpenCV, KiCad, Ngspice, RAG, Circuit Analysis, RTL code analysis, Linux UI, session-based memory, chain-of-thought reasoning.
Session author's bio
Sumanto Kar is currently serving as an Assistant Project Manager at FOSSEE, IIT Bombay, working under Prof. Kannan Moudgalya. He has extensive experience with the eSim project, an open-source EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tool for circuit design, simulation, analysis, and PCB design. Sumanto has contributed significantly to the development of eSim, led large-scale training initiatives across academic institutions, and managed diverse activities under the project, including intern coordination and outreach.
His work focuses on building and promoting circuit simulation tools, PCB design workflows, and open-source EDA solutions that enhance accessibility, affordability, and quality in engineering education and research. He is particularly passionate about enabling self-reliance in electronic design and supporting educational institutions in adopting open-source alternatives.
Sumanto holds an M.Tech. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) from IIT Bombay. During his time in IEOR, he worked on contributing to an open-source solver, enhancing its capabilities for mathematical optimization problems, and developed a Global Router, demonstrating a blend of operations research methods and practical engineering design. His academic and professional journey reflects a strong commitment to the intersection of open-source development, optimization, and educational transformation.
Beyond his technical roles, Sumanto actively mentors interns, collaborates on curriculum development efforts, and participates in national initiatives aimed at advancing open-source adoption and supporting the goals of Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat in the electronics and education sectors.
| Please confirm that there are included headshots of all speakers in their profiles | Yes |
|---|---|
| Level of Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Agree to Privacy Policy and Notice | I agree |
| In Person Attendance | In-person |
| Social Media | https://x.com/FOSSEE |