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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.

Manufacturing Outputs Datasheet Who wants to send their masterfully designed PCB to their fabricator, only to be told that the board is un-manufacturable? This can happen for a number of reasons, including outdated supplier data, incomplete documentation, improper panelization schemes, or a lack of fabrication documentation. Instead of relying on different programs to design your PCB and generate deliverables, you need an integrated software platform that includes all the Download PDF
Design Verification Datasheet FEATURES AND BENEFITS Validate your design with XSpice before you even start laying out the board to expedite layout and prevent errors Identify power distribution network issues during the design phase Running the right simulation ensures your board will meet the design requirements TOPICS IN THIS SOLUTION Design Verification Analog and Mixed Signal Simulation Simulation Profiles and Probe Management DESIGN VERIFICATION Sometimes you are not Download PDF
Data Management Datasheet FEATURES AND BENEFITS Critical ECAD data always consistent and in- sync throughout your BU and design teams to prevent errors Leverage your ECAD data to make sound, intelligent decisions Company-wide access to pre-approved parts, lifecycle states, approved suppliers, designs, and other critical information means all designers are in sync Streamlined process to communicate and collaborate with the different stakeholders in a multi-disciplined Download PDF
Component Management Datasheet Your data management workflow should help you keep track of all your components, design data, production data, and much more as needed. A process for data governance and quality assurance starts with the right software that is tailored to the needs of your industry. PCB designers and large electronics companies all need a set of data repository and data management workflow to help them quickly access and share data with each other. When your team Download PDF
Azevedo the ITAndroids: Humanoid Robot Soccer Team Judy Warner: How long has the ITAndroids team been in existence, and how did it get started? Arthur Azevedo: The ITAndroids team was created in 2005 by Jackson Matsura. Back then he was a masters student, now he is a professor in the electronics department. Two undergraduate students and another master’s student joined the team. They won the Latin America RoboCup (LARC) 2D Soccer Simulation that year. They quickly became one of the Latin American Read Article
Meet PCB Designer Tor-Anders Lunder and the Self-tracking Drone He Helped Develop at Staaker Judy Warner: Tor-Anders, will you please​ ​share​ ​a​ ​little​ ​bit​ ​about​ ​your​ ​journey​ ​to​ ​becoming​ ​a​ ​PCB​ ​​ ​and​ ​how​ ​you​ ​ended​ ​up at​ ​Staaker? Tor-Anders Lunder: Sure. After my master’s degree at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim I had already been doing some projects involving PCB design and was curious about the whole process from design to assembly, and wanted to learn more in this field Read Article
Finding the Perfect World for Multilayer PCB Design I have always been a huge Clint Eastwood fan. Dirty Harry always seemed to be a little too quick on the draw for an urban twentieth-century environment, but The Man with No Name—he was perfect for the ruggedness and lawlessness of his time. Obviously, I always rooted for him to beat up the bully, outdraw the outlaw, or get the girl, but the most intriguing thing was that he was usually quick to make a decision. Of course, the results varied Read Article
Take Your Shoes Off: Modular Design Tips for Obsolescence Management I’ve noticed that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who have a large armoire full of lightly-used shoes to choose from for their daily activities, and those who have a few (too) well-worn pairs of shoes that they are squeaking out until the toe-holes become intolerable. I am among the latter, and unfortunately for my current pair of sneakers - it is getting time to replace them. But there’s always a golden-period to replace old Read Article
Give Them No Quarter: Preventing PIC Microcontroller Code from Being Duplicated Copying, from all understandings, seems like a disingenuous and sub-par strategy for any solution you need; from taking a test in school, to catching up with your friends, it is rare to find a moment where you would be rewarded for simply copying a message or answer. Imitating, on the other hand, is an encouraged practice in most professional industries - follow the guidelines and roadwork laid out before you so as to avoid the tedious work of Read Article
Design Tips For Incorporating GSM Modules into an Embedded System As loving and rewarding as a family is, sometimes they can be a pain. My aunt, for example, refuses to communicate with my grandfather. They live less than thirty minutes apart; however, refuse to see each other. This makes coordinating visiting my family unnecessarily difficult as, often, I need to make separate day plans in order to see each so-to-speak faction. But what’s most stressful, is that often it leaves the middleman communication role Read Article
Is Cloud Data Storage a Gold Rush for Remote Access to BOMs in PCB Design? Imagine yourself as a dusty miner, fresh to the erratic outlands of the west in the 19th century. You tell yourself you’re going to make it rich, and that there’s gold in the hills, the rivers—everywhere. Now, obviously the trip has been heralding and there isn’t any particularly effective, high-speed transportation available, so you won’t be able to take whatever gold you find very easily, or very quickly to wherever you want to go. There might Read Article
Understanding Solder Bridge Shorts: Bake Your Cookie and Eat It Too I love the idea of baking. Especially around the holidays, there’s something thrilling and therapeutic in planning to bake up elaborate platters of cookies and bring them to parties. In reality, what I like is to eat cookie dough. The actual rolling or spooning out cookies onto a pan and waiting for them to bake is an exercise in both tedium and restraint. When I lose my patience, I try to cram as many cookies onto the tray as possible; of course Read Article
Sayonara Input Errors: PCB Component Management Software and Tool Commonality I will confess that I can be just a little OCD, but my son has me beat. One year I installed some CO2 detectors in my house that ended up being crooked. It wasn’t worth the effort to re-install them so I left them as they were. While I was on vacation my son found the crooked detectors, took a picture of them, and texted the picture to me demanding to know why I would allow this. If his shower had the misaligned tile that you see in the picture Read Article
17:51 Creating Layer Numbers and Stacking Stripes in Altium Designer Click to download the PCB Library files. Watch to see exactly how you can create layer numbers and stacking stripes Watch Video
Paint by Numbers: Solder Paste Stencil Design Guidelines To Reduce Shortages I’ve never had much artistic talent, but when I was a kid I loved those paint-by-numbers kits. Up until I saw those I’d only used watercolors, but I was enthralled with the thick, slow flow of the paint. I may also have killed some brain cells from breathing all the fumes. I was completely obsessed with keeping the paint in the lines, so I didn’t use the brush they gave you. Instead, I traced the outlines with a toothpick that had barely been Read Article
Untangle Yourself with an SD Card Bootloader Like Ray LaMontagne, I’ve got trouble. Smartphone trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble. I can figure out the apps I want, and I’ve got the games I need (wait, I might have those priorities backward), but transferring all my images and data is a bit more of a pain. There always seem to be music that gets left behind or images that, for whatever reason, refuse to back-up. I consider myself pretty savvy, but when I got a new smartphone I was starting Read Article
Finishing Strong with PCB Drawing Software and Manufacturing Data Files I have a great admiration for people who run. Since I am not a runner myself I can’t necessarily identify with their desire to run, but I can sure appreciate their determination. I find the runner’s tenacity to finish a long, grueling race a very motivational quality; even when they are running on empty, you will see that look of resolve on their faces as they push hard to “finish strong.” We as printed circuit board designers need to “finish Read Article