# PCBWorld: A Benchmark Environment for Engine-Grounded PCB Design Automation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.05915 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.05915/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 22 of its 74 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 Jul 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.06347/) (2017)
- [DeepSeekMath: Pushing the Limits of Mathematical Reasoning in Open Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.03300/) (2024)
- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [SWE-bench: Can Language Models Resolve Real-World GitHub Issues?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.06770/) (2023)
- [ToolLLM: Facilitating Large Language Models to Master 16000+ Real-world APIs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.16789/) (2023)
- [SWE-agent: Agent-Computer Interfaces Enable Automated Software Engineering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.15793/) (2024)
- [τ-bench: A Benchmark for Tool-Agent-User Interaction in Real-World Domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.12045/) (2024)
- [DeepCAD: A Deep Generative Network for Computer-Aided Design Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.09492/) (2021)
- [VerilogEval: Evaluating Large Language Models for Verilog Code Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.07544/) (2023)
- [ChipNeMo: Domain-Adapted LLMs for Chip Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.00176/) (2023)
- [VerilogCoder: Autonomous Verilog Coding Agents with Graph-based Planning and Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)-based Waveform Tracing Tool](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.08927/) (2024)
- [CAD-Coder: Text-to-CAD Generation with Chain-of-Thought and Geometric Reward](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.19713/) (2025)
- [CAD-GPT: Synthesising CAD Construction Sequence with Spatial Reasoning-Enhanced Multimodal LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.19663/) (2024)
- [Query2CAD: Generating CAD models using natural language queries](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.00144/) (2024)
- [A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach for Global Routing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.08809/) (2019)
- [Automatically Improving LLM-based Verilog Generation using EDA Tool Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.11856/) (2024)
- [ORFS-agent: Tool-Using Agents for Chip Design Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.08332/) (2025)
- [From Intent to Execution: Multimodal Chain-of-Thought Reinforcement Learning for Precise CAD Code Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.10118/) (2025)
- [Text2CAD-Bench: A Benchmark for LLM-based Text-to-Parametric CAD Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.18430/) (2026)
- [Attention Routing: track-assignment detailed routing using attention-based reinforcement learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.09473/) (2020)
- [Pointer-CAD: Unifying B-Rep and Command Sequences via Pointer-based Edges & Faces Selection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.04337/) (2026)
- [PCBSchemaGen: Reward-Guided LLM Code Synthesis for Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) Schematic Design with Structured Verification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.00510/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

PCB routing is the task of connecting the nets of a board with copper traces under strict design rules, yet learning-based methods still lag behind rule-based routers. We introduce PCBWorld, an open-source engine-grounded PCB routing environment built on KiCad, an electronic design automation (EDA) engine. As a human engineer does, agents in PCBWorld interactively route a board through the engine's native operations, guided by its Design Rule Check (DRC) feedback. The environment supports both RL and tool-using LLM agents. Alongside the environment, PCBWorld-Bench provides three board datasets in the native .kicad_pcb format, two controllable synthetic generators and 679 real open-source boards. It scores any completed board with eight engine-checked evaluation metrics, regardless of the routing method. In our experiments, agents in PCBWorld consistently outperformed grid-action RL policies and open-loop LLM baselines, and an RL policy trained only on synthetic boards transferred zero-shot to real boards, approaching rule-based routers. PCBWorld and PCBWorld-Bench are available at https://github.com/LGAI-Research/PCBWorld.