Samtec Q Strip/Q Pairs, Basic Blade & Beam, Razor Beam, and mPOWER connector generators

[calebreister]

I wrote this script (and YAML file) to generate nearly every common vertical configuration of the Samtec Q Strip and Q Pairs connector families. It was developed as a result of my work in the kicad-footprint-library. I tried to make the code and data files as clean as possible so that they can hopefully be used as a solid starting point for future contributions.

This PR also contains a hack to work around #395. This was necessary in order get the the script to run.

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[calebreister]

As noted in the footprint pull request, I've begun work on the right-angled version of this script. I'm also working on a more generic Razor Beam script. A few of the LSHM footprints already exist in the official library, but my script will be able to implement all of the vertical LSHM, LSS, and LSEM parts.

[calebreister]

I've made some minor updates to the QStrip_QPairs_Vertical script to renumber the plane pads. Since these pads are all connected per-bank, I've numbered them P1, P2, etc. with their corresponding banks.

I've also added a RazorBeam_Vertical script capable of generating LSHM and LSEM-series connector footprints. This script does not currently support the LSS connectors since they have a different body shape.

The QStrip_QPairs_Horizontal script is currently a work-in-progress concept that I may or may not end up implementing.

[calebreister]

I've added a module to the tools directory called dict_tools.py. Currently, it has a function that recursively merges dict objects, and a function that applies a type of "inheritance" to hierarchical dict objects. This enables a drastic reduction in redundancy within certain JSON/YAML files (much more so than the YAML anchor/reference system). See QStrip_Vertical.json for an example of how the the dictInherit() function can be used to reduce redundancy.

[calebreister]

Here's my current progress on this PR

• [x] QStrip_Vertical.py
  • [x] Q Strip/Q Pairs vertical connectors
  • [x] Basic Blade & Beam vertical connectors
• [ ] ~~Q Strip_Horizontal.py~~
  • [ ] ~~Q Strip/Q Pairs horizontal connectors~~
  • [ ] ~~Basic Blade & Beam horizontal connectors~~
• [x] RazorBeam_Vertical.py
  • [x] Razor Beam vertical connectors (require migration to JSON)

Needless to say, the scope of this PR has expanded since its original introduction.

[calebreister]

@chschlue Should I make a separate PR for the dict inheritance script so it can be added to the main repo sooner?

[chschlue]

Yes, please.