calculate-packing

calculate-packing

calculate-packing is a small TypeScript library that ships the placement / packing algorithm used by the tscircuit tool-chain for automatically laying out PCB components.

Paste PackInput and Debug Online

The solver turns a user-supplied PackInput (components, pads & strategy settings) into a collision-free PackOutput while

• honouring a configurable clearance (minGap)
• keeping pads that share the same networkId close together
• minimising overall trace length

Internally the algorithm:

• sorts components (largest → smallest)
• keeps an outline (union of inflated component AABBs) of the already packed island(s)
• probes outline segments for the point with the shortest distance to any pad on the same network
• evaluates the four orthogonal rotations of the candidate component and chooses the cheapest non-overlapping one

Installation

bun add calculate-packing      # or npm i / yarn add

Quick start

import { pack, PackInput } from "calculate-packing"

const input: PackInput = {
  components: [
    {
      componentId: "C1",
      pads: [
        {
          padId: "C1_1",
          networkId: "GND",
          type: "rect",
          offset: { x: -0.6, y: 0 },
          size: { x: 1.2, y: 1 },
        },
        {
          padId: "C1_2",
          networkId: "VCC",
          type: "rect",
          offset: { x: +0.6, y: 0 },
          size: { x: 1.2, y: 1 },
        },
      ],
    },
    /* …more components… */
  ],
  minGap: 0.25,
  packOrderStrategy: "largest_to_smallest",
  packPlacementStrategy: "shortest_connection_along_outline",
}

const result = pack(input)
console.log(result.components) // → positioned & rotated components

See tests/ for more elaborate examples (SVG snapshots, circuit-json fixtures).

Development

bun install       # install deps
bun test          # run unit & SVG snapshot tests
bunx tsc --noEmit # type-check

Repo layout

• lib/PackSolver – high-level packing solver
• lib/geometry – computational-geometry helpers
• lib/math – low-level math utilities
• tests/ – unit & snapshot tests

Public API

export	purpose
pack()	run the solver
convertPackOutputToPackInput()	strip solver-only fields
convertCircuitJsonToPackOutput()	circuit-json → PackOutput helper
getGraphicsFromPackOutput()	build a graphics-debug scene for review

Everything else is internal and may change without notice.

License

MIT – see LICENSE.