12 V to 5 V / 1 A Buck Molecule (TPS54202)
Public Unreviewedby John Lauer
An independently designed 12 V to 5 V, 1 A synchronous buck molecule (TI TPS54202), with calculations, ngspice and PSpice simulation, KiCad 10 schematic and board, and the board laid out and analysed with adom-aiflow.
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README
markdown12 V to 5 V / 1 A Buck Molecule (TPS54202)

A 12 V to 5 V, 1 A synchronous buck on the TI TPS54202, designed as a 28 x 20 mm Adom molecule.
It takes the brief from the YouTube video "Hardware Design with GPT-6: Schematic, PSpice & PCB" by Inside Embedded (12 V in, 5 V at 1 A out, terminals, test points) and designs it again from scratch. Every value comes from the datasheet equations. The loop and the switching behaviour were simulated in ngspice, and the result was checked against TI's own PSpice model. The board was placed, routed, poured and analysed in KiCad 10 with Adom AI Flow, and its copper was checked for current density and temperature with Adom Fields.
It was built with a set of Adom tools working together; here is the full list.
The board has not been fabricated yet. Everything below is design and simulation.
The video
About four minutes, start to finish: the prompt in Adom Hydrogen, the circuit, three SPICE engines in agreement, the live layout in KiCad 10, the current and heat analysis and the rework it caused, the silkscreen placed live, the part models and their wiki pages, and what it cost to build.
Watch on YouTube · How the video was made: capture, shots and scenes, so you can make one for your own board.
Key specs
| input | 12 V nominal, designed for 9 to 16 V; EN undervoltage lockout starts at 8.58 V and stops at 6.87 V |
| output | 5 V (4.98 V nominal from stocked divider values), 1 A continuous |
| controller | TI TPS54202DDCR, 500 kHz synchronous buck, internal compensation, SOT-23-6 |
| inductor | 15 uH Abracon AMPLH5030S-150MT (Isat 3.7 A) |
| output capacitance | 3 x 22 uF X5R, 36.3 uF effective at 5 V |
| loop (ngspice, 12 V, 1 A) | 28.6 kHz crossover, 110 deg phase margin with 68 pF Cff |
| output ripple (ngspice, 12 V, 1 A) | 3.2 mV peak to peak |
| load step (TI PSpice model) | about 185 mV (3.7 %) for a 1 A step |
| efficiency (estimate) | 93 % at 12 V, 1 A |
| current density (Adom Fields) | 50 A/mm2 peak, at the SW node beside U1 |
| thermal (Adom Fields, still air) | U1 +45 C at its GND pin, L1 +41 C; 55 C junction-based budget |
| board | 28 x 20 mm, 2 layers, 0.5 oz copper, 4 medium machine pins on a 24 x 16 mm grid, 6 contacts, 4 probe pads |
| DRC (KiCad 10.0.5) | 0 errors, 0 unconnected |
| sourcing | Mouser plus Adom stocked basic parts, for a 3rd party fab |
Molecule interface
28 x 20 mm, 2 layers. Positions are in mm from MP1. The molecule's GLB, STEP, footprint and symbol JSON are in molecule/; the KiCad 10 project is in kicad/.
| contact | position | net | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| J1 | (0, 12) | VIN | 9 to 16 V, 12 V nominal; UVLO starts at 8.58 V, stops at 6.87 V |
| J2 | (0, 8) | GND | input return |
| J3 | (0, 4) | EN | open drain low turns it off; released, the UVLO divider decides |
| J4 | (24, 12) | VOUT | 4.98 V, 1 A |
| J5 | (24, 8) | GND | output and signal ground |
| J6 | (24, 4) | VMON | VOUT / 2 (2.49 V) for a 3.3 V ADC, 5 k source |
| MP1 to MP4 | (0, 0), (24, 0), (0, 16), (24, 16) | GND | medium machine pins |
Probe pads: TP1 SW (15.6, 4.9), TP2 FB (9.4, 5.6), TP3 VOUT (21.6, 4.9), TP4 GND (15.6, 2.8).
Parts on the Adom wiki
Every part on this board has its own page on the Adom wiki, with its symbol, footprint and 3D model, ready to reuse in your own designs.
| ref | part | page |
|---|---|---|
| U1 | TI TPS54202DDCR buck regulator | TPS54202DDCR |
| L1 | 15 uH inductor, Abracon | AMPLH5030S-150MT |
| C1 | 47 uF 35 V electrolytic, Panasonic | EEE-FK1V470P |
| C2, C3 | 10 uF 25 V X7R 1206, Yageo | CC1206KKX7R8BB106 |
| C4, C5 | 100 nF 50 V X7R 0603, Walsin | 0603B104J500CT |
| C6, C7, C8 | 22 uF 10 V X5R 0805, Samsung | CL21A226MPQNNNE |
| C9 | 68 pF C0G 0402, Walsin | 0402N680J500CT |
| R1 | 68 k 0402, Bourns | CR0402-FX-6802GLF |
| R2 | 5.6 k 0402, Bourns | CR0402-FX-5601GLF |
| R3, R7, R8 | 10 k 0402, Bourns | CR0402-FX-1002GLF |
| R4 | 1 M 0402, Bourns | CR0402-FX-1004GLF |
| R5 | 150 k 0402, Bourns | CR0402-FX-1503GLF |
| R6 | 2.2 k 0402, Bourns | CR0402-FX-2201GLF |
| D1 | green LED 0603, Inolux | IN-S63BTG |
| MP1 to MP4 | medium machine pin, Adom | MachinePinMediumShort |
| J1 to J6 | medium machine contact, Adom | MachineContactMedium |
Feature guides
| guide | what it covers |
|---|---|
| The Adom tools | Every Adom tool used on this board, what each one did, and a link to its page. |
| Circuit design | The brief, why the TPS54202, and every calculation: inductor (15 uH vs Lmin), COUT, the 68 pF Cff, the stocked-value divider search, EN UVLO, bootstrap, losses. |
| Simulation | ngspice loop gain across Cff, the switching transient at 9, 12 and 16 V, and the check against TI's PSpice model. |
| Sourcing | The BOM with Mouser part numbers, the 3rd party fab sourcing policy, and where every 3D model came from. |
| Board | Molecule format, design rules, placement, routing, pours with the SW patch, DRC, copper and silkscreen. |
| Thermal and current | Adom Fields current density (SW peak 50 A/mm2), where the heat goes, and the still-air budget. |
| How the video was made | Capturing the footage while the board is built, the shots and scenes, and putting the video together. |
| Build clips | Watch the board being built in KiCad: placement, routing, pours, the analyses and the silkscreen. |
What is in this repo
| folder | contents |
|---|---|
design/ |
calcs.py (every datasheet equation, run it to regenerate calcs.json) and bom.csv |
sim/ |
the ngspice loop and switching models with their results and plots, and the TI PSpice comparison |
kicad/ |
KiCad 10 project: schematic, board, design rules, the netlist the board was generated from, the generator scripts, project libraries and every 3D model |
aiflow/spec.json |
the layout constraints the board was built to: wide nets, Kelvin taps, loads, hot parts, pours and the thermal budget |
molecule/ |
the molecule STEP (KiCad 10 export), the anchored GLB and the footprint and symbol JSON |
