PCB Components

Important Features to Consider When You're Comparing PCB Design Software

Important Features to Consider When You're Comparing and Recomparing PCB Design Software Anyone who knows me knows that I hate shopping. This is as true for lab equipment and software as it is for clothes and cars. At my lowest of lows I’ve had meltdowns in the mall, and had to call a cab while my friends were still going strong. Now when I shop, I like to get something as close to perfect for me as possible, so that I don’t have to repeat the experience for a long time. So, if I’m looking for ECAD software, what features and support Read Article

Altium Vault Design And Library Migration Guide

Altium Vault Design And Library Migration Guide LIBRARIES AND DATA This guide provides insight into design project migration into Altium Vault. Library Management in Altium Vault is inspired by modern data management systems. Rather than simply lists of components, their designs are enriched by revisions, lifecycle management and traceability of relationships between models, components, library files, and projects. Altium Vault Design and Library Migration Guide Centralization is also improved Read Article

Altium Vault Evaluation Guide

Altium Vault Evaluation Guide To learn more about this topic please see the full solution - Evaluating Altium Vault - at Altium.com. Read Article

Data Management in Four Steps

Data Management in Four Steps When it comes to electronics design, data management is at the bottom of most engineers’ priority list. When you first enter the engineering field, you don’t learn about all the tiny details you need to keep track of during the design process. These minute details build up into the mountain that is data management. Something as simple as finding a previously used part can mean spending your day fumbling between spreadsheets, approved lists, and Read Article

Design Data: Organize to Optimize

Design Data: Organize to Optimize You’re Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link As engineers, we tend to focus on the end technology and forget about the important ECAD design data that actually makes up our designs. The links between technology and design data create something greater than the sum of their . We often overlook the benefits of establishing solid links between our design technology and our design data. The truth is data management provides organization, traceability Read Article

Professional PCB Design Data

Professional PCB Design Data Your PCB design is like a novel. The words of that novel are the buildings blocks you use. You wouldn’t write a novel without defining the language structure; you need syntax, grammar, organization, and diction. You know everything that you want to place in your design, you just have to define it. Once you define the in your ECAD environment, keeping them all organized in libraries can be a challenge. We tend to focus on the end product of our Read Article

Complete Component Library Management for PCB Design Data

Complete Component Library Management for PCB Design Data Complete Management Components are the basic building blocks of designs and even the slightest discrepancy can derail your whole design process. If one bad footprint makes its way through manufacturing, the rest of your design can be invalidated with necessary layout changes. Worst of all, you’ll have to identify everywhere a bad component has been utilized across several designs. The work required to change your layout grows exponentially the Read Article

Choosing the Best Communication Configuration for Your IoT Device Network

Choosing the Best Communication Configuration for Your IoT Device Network Not planning your IoT system communication adds cost and adventure to installing your products. It’s all set, you have perfected the design of the latest state-of-the-art IoT fork and you’re feeling unstoppable. Nothing could throw a wrench in your plans now...except maybe your fork's network connection. What’s the difference between a smart fork that can't connect and an ordinary fork? You paid a lot more for the smart one! That’s why it’s Read Article

SpaceX to Launch Modular Falcon Rocket with Reused Engines

SpaceX to Launch Modular Falcon Rocket with Reused Engines Modular, reusable design is a design methodology that demands serious consideration. SpaceX have put the associated advantages to work with their Falcon family of spacecraft. The Falcon Heavy long-range heavy payload rocket, their latest effort, is built from existing Falcon models. Moreover, the Falcon rockets are engineered to land in a controlled manner, so that they can be reused for future missions. In their next mission, SpaceX will launch Read Article

Pros and Cons of Having a Manufacturer Source Components for Your PCB Design

Pros and Cons of Having a Manufacturer Source Components for Your PCB Design Turnkey PCB manufacturing and assembly can be convenient, but can you trust these service providers to source your parts? Read Article

The Challenges Of Library Management

The Challenges Of Library Management While there are many paths that can lead to a product failure, such as the challenge of managing a globally dispersed team, undeveloped development processes, working with multiple tools, and poor collaboration, one particular issue should be among the top priorities for any business to tackle: ECAD data library management system problems and solutions. DEFICIENT MANAGEMENT DATA, A HUGE PROBLEM No one questions the reality of electronics Read Article

The Challenges Of ECAD Library Management

The Challenges Of ECAD Library Management Implementing a proper system for ECAD data management enhances team productivity and efficiency to help you deliver products on time and within budget. Read on to learn more. Has the inability to properly manage your ECAD data set back your entire design process? This is often the case for many component engineers who need a reliable resource for managing their data lifecycle. Oftentimes, electronics are in the driver’s seat when it comes to new Read Article

Creating 3D Component Bodies in a Footprint Library

PCB Design: Create 3D Component in a Footprint Library In today’s PCB design process, your design and CAD tool needs to be able to integrate mechanical design workflows into an electrical design tool. Read on to learn how to create 3D component bodies in a footprint library. In today’s PCB design process, you need to be able to integrate mechanical design workflows into an electrical design tool. Transferring inaccurate design data back and forth between the ECAD and MCAD worlds not only causes Read Article

The Wild West of PCB Design - Part Choice Showdown

The Wild West of PCB Design - Part Choice Showdown Does your part selection process ever feel like a wild west showdown, where every stakeholder is out to protect their own self-interests at the expense of your own? Learn how to turn your part choice selections into a win-win for your entire design team with a new feature in Altium Designer^® 16. Link Does your part selection process ever feel like a scene from a wild west movie, where every stakeholder is out to protect their own self-interests Read Article

6 Things for Your PCB Design Library

6 Things to Have in Your Team’s PCB Design Library Components form the building blocks of our Printed Board designs, and making the right component selections can make or break a project’s budget. Are you doing everything you can to ensure that your design is both maintained and updated on a regular basis? More importantly, how are you ensuring that only approved, ready-to-use components are being used in your current PCB designs? Read on as we reveal the 6 things you need to have in your team’s Read Article

Using Configuration Management to Reduce Design Errors and Promote Re-use: Part 1

Using Configuration Management to Reduce Design Errors and Promote Re-use: Part 1 A Configuration Management system can be used, along with an existing Design Data Management system, to further promote good data integrity. So just what is Configuration Management, and how can the general principles be applied to an electronic design environment? This blog series aims to answer some of the questions surrounding this topic, as well as provide a basic framework for easily integrating a useful Configuration Management system. A [a Read Article

How to use Schematic CAD Drawings for Cable Assemblies: Part 2

How to use Schematic CAD Drawings for Cable Assemblies: Part 2 The need to design cable assembly drawings often falls to the electronics design team, but for many, the use of high-cost dedicated cabling design software is simply out of reach and overkill. In this second installment of the cable design blog series, Sainesh Solanki reveals the needed design elements of the components used in great cable assembly drawings (you can access part 1 here). These schematic symbols and their associated parameters and Read Article