Putting Constraints to Work for You in Your Circuit Routing Software When I was a kid, my parents had a 1955 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday. What a great car. As an eight year old though, the main thing that stood out to me was that it had a decorative rope that stretched horizontally across the back of the front seat. Sitting in the back with my brother one day, we informed our parents that with the fancy rope in place we no longer needed to use our seat belts. I saw my dad wink to my mom, and then at a very slow Read Article Designing Your PDN to Work Within Your PCB Layout Guidelines I enjoy watching the occasional episode of Star Trek here and there, and I get a kick out of noting the inconsistencies in their technology. In one episode they may be firing all of their energy weapons at the bad guys, moving at warp 3-billion to time travel and showing no regard as to where their power was coming from. In the next episode though, someone will plug in a space toaster to warm up their breakfast in the galley, and the whole ship Read Article Efficient Heat Dissipation with SMD Heat Sinks Keeps You From Dropping PCBs In electronics, there is the possibility that your PCB can get pretty hot due to power dissipation in certain components. Whenever a component reaches an extreme temperature that goes beyond a component's safe operating range, its lifetime will be greatly reduced or the component may fail immediately. The heat-producing component being defective means the entire PCBA will need to be scrapped. There are many things to consider when dealing with Read Article 5:54 CN - Output Environment: Draftsman - Upgrade:ADSCvid Watch Video BOM System Improvements In the past, many PCB designers were confined to tools that dictated when the Bill of Materials could be produced. But we know from years of experience that the Bill of Materials, or BOM, can change throughout the design process. We believe the decision should be up to you, which is why we strive to offer tools that embrace flexible and agile options for PCB designers and other professionals involved in the decision process. Click the PDF above Read Article Guidelines for PCB Design PCB Design is a complex field and every step you take to design and develop a board has its own set of best practices to help you determine the best solutions for your pending puzzle. Read on for more information about guidelines from across the spectrum of PCB design disciplines. We hope these PCB design guidelines will help you in your next project. Click the PDF above to read more about Guidelines for PCB Design in this presentation. Or read Read Article Collaborative Design PCB Design is a complex field and every step you take to design and develop a board has its own set of best practices. But what will truly move the needle in your design process? Collaborative tools that keep your team not only focused but in the flow. Altium has pioneered collaborative design for EDA tools because Altium PCB design tools start each iteration with ultimate productivity in mind. Join us in an exploration of collaborative PCB Read Article Through It All: PCB Tools and What Experience Has Shown I have always been aware that places exist in the world where the January gray skies and chills never happen, but I’m still not entirely sure where they are. Whether it’s picking up a new hobby, being invigorated by your resolutions, or rewatching some of your favorite movies under a heavy, comfortable blanket, January has a lot more to offer than the cold, wet, and gloomy weather that is on the other side of most of our windows. As the doorstep Read Article BOM Optimization for Rapid Prototype Manufacturing Your BOM can make your manufacturing speeds, especially if you want your prototyping to be done quick and smooth. Read Article Electric Distribution Systems and PCBs: Power Distribution Network Design For those of you who have only experienced the brilliant high power of LED, Xenon, or Halogen headlights in today’s modern cars, you may not realize how fortunate you are. My first car was old enough that its headlights could have been candles. One year I received Halogen fog lights for my birthday, and the difference at night was amazing. Not only could I now see what was next to the car in the dark but the fog lights almost out-distanced the Read Article Manage Embedded Software through Software Architecture and Design Rules for a No-Line PCB Design Recently, Amazon opened its first grocery market where one of its main points was its refusal of lines. Of course, its first-day publicity was a line of people outside waiting to try it out. I’m sure that as the newness diminishes it will be able to fulfill its promise of no lines; however, for now, I am mostly hoping that the store still had some rules in place in-case there was a line. After all, if one of your basic premises is to avoid lines Read Article Help Your PCB Design Process with CAD Tools that are Designed to Work Together I’ve never quite understood how in all of our technological developments as humans, we haven’t yet developed a better grounding for playgrounds. When I was still small enough to swing, instead of sinking the whole swingset, I remember being so frustrated that our playground had rocks and mulch for us to run around on. That has always seemed a bit counterintuitive to me; designate an area as a play area for children but line it with hard or Read Article Take the Fear out of PCB Form Factors with These Four Considerations Throughout the early 2000’s, we were blessed with an array of new and exciting products, shows, music, and technology. Myspace was just coming into view as one of the top social networking sites of its time, Livestrong bracelets were the most fashionable accessories around, and who could forget the launch of the very first iPod. However cool and hip all these things were, there was one that clearly stood out among the rest: the NBC show Fear Read Article Learn to Manage Your BOM Inventory for Smooth Production Runs I’ve recently gotten into fermenting kombucha (which, I am well aware, is about the most hipster thing I could have said), and I ordered a handful of different-sized mason jars online in order to store it. Mason jars are reliable as ever but with the increasing popularity of home-fermenting and brewing, they’re one part of an industry trying to optimize how we store. During my ordering process alone, I had twelve tabs open of marginally different Read Article How is Your Design Affected by PCB Edge Clearance? We are often tasked with fitting a plethora of things into a small window of space. Whether it be cramming loads of info into our heads moments before a final exam, doing all twenty sightseeing activities into an eight-hour “vacation day,” or strategically stacking our Thanksgiving plates full of deliciousness, we must be aware of the boundaries given, and how each unique item interacts with the items surrounding (heaven forbid the mashed Read Article Getting Started with PCB Design NOTE: This Guide was written for Altium Designer 18. For the latest Altium Designer has to offer, please visit https://my.altium.com/altium-designer/getting-started. This tutorial will start with a sketch of a circuit and will take you through the process of representing the circuit as a schematic, implementing the circuit as a printed circuit board, and generating the outputs required for board fabrication. This tutorial is based on an astable Read Article Modern DFM, Princeton University, and Uniquely Shaped PCB Design OnTrack Newsletter January 2018 On Track Newsletter VOL. 1 No 8 Happy New Year and welcome to the January edition of the Altium® On Track Newsletter! In Designer Spotlight, we bring you a fresh perspective on DFM and prototyping with industry veteran Dirk Stans, owner of Belgium-based PCB manufacturer Eurocircuits. In Next Gen Innovators, we give you a glimpse under the hood of another impressive Formula SAE contender, Princeton University’s Racing Electric team. In the On Read Article Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page154 Current page155 Page156 Page157 Page158 Page159 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More