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Explore content from blog posts to technical white papers gathered together for your convenience. All written by Altium's community of PCB design experts.

Additive PCB manufacturing and supply chain volatility Additive PCB Manufacturing: The Vaccine for Electronics Supply Shocks? At this time, at least a quarter of the world’s population is under quarantine, with workers unable to go to offices or factories, leading to fundamental disabling of the world economy. The electronics industry is suffering greatly as well, dealing with a supply shock from factories shutting down in Southeast Asia, to demand-side shocks from Western markets literally shutting down. Worst of all, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an enormous Read Article
The Role Of ISU Petasys, A Multilayer Manufacturing Company in Realizing a Successful PCB Implementation The Role Of ISU Petasys, A Multilayer Manufacturing Company in Realizing a Successful PCB Implementation John Stephens, Senior Vice President of Sales for ISU Petasys (pronounced “E-soo”), built his first circuit board in 1974. Like many others of us in the industry, he got a first-hand education in PCB design, and manufacturing and assembly by working in the aerospace industry. He explains, “I started in aerospace at Litton Guidance and Control Systems, where I worked in a process development lab that was basically a prototyping shop where we Read Article
LTE + GNSS Asset Tracker Part 2 LTE + GNSS Asset Tracker Part 2 This is Part Two of my LTE GNSS Asset Tracker project. In part one, I identified the right components for the project and captured the schematics. In this part, we are going to finish the project up with the PCB layout and routing. In the last article, I had stated my goal of making this board as small as possible with the intention of making a high density board, expecting I’d need 6 layers for the routing. However, a board’s total size is Read Article
PCB assembly (PCBA) and supply chain management Take the Risk Out of Prototype PCB Assembly (PCBA) Take the risk out of your PCB assembly (PCBA) with supply chain management. There is a special feeling one gets when polishing off a Rev A design and ordering the first set of PCBs from a board house. While designers everywhere would likely not trade that feeling for anything, taking some of the uneasiness off the table would probably be a welcome change. Here are review steps that should prove more effective at settling nerves than an after-work Read Article
Figure of Merit: A Way to Score Your Opinions Figure of Merit: A Way to Score Your Opinions Metrics are data, and statistically backed measures. It is always expedient to base decisions on data and metrics. But what if a metric doesn’t exist? Then you can create the next best measure: the Figure of Merit. The problem with opinions is that they are difficult to defend, and when used in conjunction with producibility, they often they vary from person to person. That is why the Figure of Merit process is so popular. For a small amount of Read Article
Hardward-in-the-Loop Testing: An Introduction Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing: An Introduction If you do a search for “Hardware-in-the-Loop” testing, you will frequently find examples of complex, real-time systems. This article from National Instruments, for example, gives a nice explanation and background on what hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) is, and provides an example of testing electronic control units within an automobile. In this article, we will be focusing on a smaller, more bite-sized version of HIL testing concepts. What is Hardware Read Article
Towards a Deeper Understanding with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Towards a Deeper Understanding with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Discover how Altium Designer + Altium 365 are helping power groundbreaking research on climate change and fostering a deeper understanding of our ecosystem with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Read Article
COVID-19 Challenge COVID-19 Challenge My name is Piotr Lazarek. I’m a 19 year old engineer studying at Dulwich College in London. Because of the pandemic, I was forced to fly back to Poland for quarantine. To be frank, it wasn’t an easy time for me—after a week, I was practically dying of boredom. Thankfully, around that time, I received an invitation for a project called “COVID-19 Challenge”. The project was aimed at sixth form and university students who were passionate about Read Article
Setting Up Concord Pro Revisions and Lifecycle Setting Up Concord Pro Revisions and Lifecycle Precursor To help PCB Designers to become better at what they do, there are various Blog series on Concord Pro which are presented in such a way that they are first broken into by categories. These categories walk through the entire process of efficiently using Concord Pro. At the end of each blog are practical steps you can take to get organized, and get the most out of Concord Pro for your PCB projects. Introduction We are continuing to set up Read Article
Best Practices Cultivating a Healthy and Productive Remote Working Environment Best Practices Cultivating a Healthy and Productive Remote Working Environment A leading research and advisory company, Gartner, Inc., found that nearly 75% of the 317 CFOs and business finance leaders they surveyed planned to move at least 5% of their formerly on-site workforce into permanently remote positions even after the COVID-19-related quarantines have ended. Zach Peterson, prolific technology content writer, scientist/engineer, and owner and CEO of Northwest Engineering Solutions, joins the OnTrack Podcast to Read Article
Make the Free Switch and Import from KiCad to Altium Designer Make the Free Switch and Import from KiCad to Altium Designer Free PCB design software can be a great thing, especially when you’re just getting started as a new designer or a hobbyist. As you gain more experience and you start working with more complex products or in a professional setting you’ll start to find that each KiCad and Altium Designer software tools have nuances, but there is only one that focuses on productivity for professional hardware engineers. If you have serious time constraints you want Read Article
Linux PCB Design Software that is Ready for You to Use Linux PCB Design Software that is Ready for You to Use Cloud-based PCB design software that will run on Linux or MacOS to give you the design tools that you need. You need to create a design for a printed circuit board, but you are having difficulty in finding schematic capture and PCB layout software that will give you the results you need on your Linux system. There’s great news for you though, here at Altium we’ve got what you need. It’s a cloud based free PCB design system called Upverter that Read Article
Getting into the Ring with Altium Getting into the Ring with Altium “BattleBots” has delighted robotics aficionados for decades. Beyond the roar of the engine and the cheers of the crowd, learn how Altium is helping make the mightiest BattleBot “Mammoth” even mightier. Read Article
Circuit Diagram Maker: Your Guide to Building with Altium Designer Circuit Diagram Maker: Your Guide to Building with Altium Designer Some PCB design software packages make you feel like you’ve been bamboozled. On one hand, you’re told that you’ll have access to tools that will let you move through the entire design process. Then all of a sudden, you can’t finish your design without purchasing critical features as add-ons. Only Altium Designer integrates all the best circuit design tools in a single program. You can get access to free versions that include critical design tools Read Article
Utilize BOM Management to Keep your PCB Design Right Utilize BOM Management to Keep your PCB Design Right With Active BOM you can eliminate any guesswork out of component selection and help you to start your PCB design right. ALTIUM DESIGNER A PCB design tool to keep your PCB moving forward through all stages of production. Are you tired of waiting for other people to give you feedback on your components before you can start your work? Are you tired of budget-busting eleventh hour changes on your design due to incorrect or out-of-date component Read Article
ASME Standards for PCB Design and Manufacturing ASME Standards for PCB Design and Manufacturing So what does the ASME have to say about PCB design and deployment? As it turns out, there are many important points from the ASME to consider during design for manufacturing. Some important IPC standards for ensuring reliability are derived from ASME standards, while other documentation and drawing standards are specified explicitly in the ASME standards. Whether you work with electromechanical systems, the auto industry, or in aerospace, the Read Article
Planning Your Multilayer PCB Stackup in Altium Designer Planning Your Multilayer PCB Stackup in Altium Designer Newer PCBs are rarely designed on one or two layer boards. With the high density of connections and the number of components that are used in modern PCBs, your next design will probably be a multilayer PCB. If your next device has an odd form factor, then you will probably be using a rigid-flex PCB. Both of these types of PCBs require the right stackup procedure. This means you need PCB design software with an intuitive stackup manager. When you Read Article