Using EAGLE: Schematic

Using EAGLE: Schematic
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Using EAGLE: Schematic a learn.sparkfun.com tutorial

Contents
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Introduction
Create a Project
Adding Parts to a Schematic
Wiring Up the Schematic
Tips and Tricks
Resources and Going Further
Introduction
PCB design in EAGLE is a two-step process. First you design your schematic, then you lay out a PCB
based on that schematic. EAGLEs board and schematic editors work hand-in-hand. A welldesigned schematic is critical to the overall PCB design process. It will help you catch errors before
the board is fabricated, and itll help you debug a board when something doesnt work.
This tutorial is the first of a two-part Using EAGLE series, and its devoted entirely to the
schematic-designing side of EAGLE. In part 2, Using EAGLE: Board Layout, well use the schematic
designed in this tutorial as the basis for our example board layout.
Suggested Reading
If youd like to follow along with this tutorial, make sure youve installed and setup the EAGLE
software. Our How to Install and Setup EAGLE tutorial goes over this process step-by-step, and it
also covers the basics of what EAGLE is and what makes it great. It also covers how to download
and install the SparkFun EAGLE libraries well be using in this tutorial. Definitely read through that
tutorial before you continue on.
Wed also recommend you read and understand the concepts behind these tutorials:
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How to Read a Schematic

PCB Basics
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/using-eagle-schematic/all?print=1
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Create a Project
Well start by making a new project folder for our design. In the control panel, under the Projects
tree, right click on the directory where you want the project to live (by default EAGLE creates an
eagle directory in your home folder), and select New Project
Project.
Give the newly created, red project folder a descriptive name. How about Bare Bones Arduino.
Project folders are like any regular file system folder, except they contain a file named eagle.epf.
The EPF file links your schematic and board design together, and also stores any settings you may
have set especially for the project.
Create a Schematic
The project folder will house both our schematic and board design files (and eventually our gerber
files too). To begin the design process, we need to lay out a schematic.
To add a schematic to a project folder, right-click the folder, hover over New
New and select
Schematic
Schematic.
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A new, blank window should immediately pop up. Welcome to the schematic editor!
Adding Parts to a Schematic

Schematic design is a two step process. First you have to add all of the parts the schematic sheet,
then those parts need to be wired together. You can intermix the steps add a few parts, wire a few
parts, then add some more but since we already have a reference design well just add everything
in one swoop.
Using the ADD Tool

The ADD tool
(on the left toolbar, or under the Edit menu) is what youll use to place every
single component on the schematic. The ADD tool opens up a library navigator, where you can
expand specific libraries and look at the parts it holds. With a part selected on the left side, the
view on the right half should update to show both the schematic symbol of the part and its
package.
The ADD tool also has search functionality very helpful when you have to navigate through
dozens of libraries to find a part. The search is very literal, so dont misspell stuff! You can add
wildcards to your search by placing an asterisk (*) before and/or after your search term. For
example if you search for atmega328 you should find a single part/package combo in the SparkFunDigitalIC library, but if you search *atmega328* (note asterisks before and after), youll discover
two more versions of the IC (because theyre actually named ATMEGA328P). Youll probably
want to get accustomed to always adding an asterisk before and after your search term.
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To actually add a part from a library either select the part you want and click OK, or double-click
your part.
Step 1: Add a Frame

The frame isnt a critical component for what will be the final PCB layout, but it keeps your
schematic looking clean and organized. The frame we want should be in the SparkFun-Aesthetics
library, and its named FRAMEFRAME-LETTER.
LETTER Find that by either searching or navigating and add it to
your schematic.
After selecting the part you want to add, itll glow and start hovering around following your
mouse cursor. To place the part, left-click (once!). Lets place the frame so its bottom-left corner
runs right over our origin (the small dotted cross, in a static spot on the schematic).
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After placing a part, the add tool will assume you want to add another a new frame should start
following your cursor. To get out of the add-mode either hit escape (ESC) twice or just select a
different tool.
Step 2: Save (And Save Often)

Right now your schematic is an untitled temporary file living in your computers ether. To save
either go to File > Save, or just click the blue floppy disk icon
. Name your schematic
something descriptive. How about BareBonesArduino.sch
BareBonesArduino.sch
BareBonesArduino.sch (SCH is the file format for all EAGLE
schematics).
As a bonus, after saving, your frames title should update accordingly (you may have to move
around the screen, or go to View > Redraw).
Step 3: Adding the Power Input

Next well add four different parts all devoted to our voltage supply input. Use the add tool for
these parts:
Part Description
Library
Part Name
Quantity
5.5mm Barrel Jack (PTH) SparkFun-Connectors POWER_JACKPTH
0.1F Ceramic Capacitor
SparkFun-Capacitors
CAPPTH
Voltage Supply Symbol
SparkFun-Aesthetics
VCC
Ground Symbol
SparkFun-Aesthetics
GND
All of these parts will go in the top-left of the schematic frame. Arranged like this:
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If you need to move parts around, use the MOVE tool

(left toolbar or under the Edit menu).
Left-click once on a part to pick it up (your mouse should be hovering over the parts red +
origin). Then left click again when its where it needs to be.
Step 4: Microprocessor and Supporting Circuitry

Next well add the main component of the design the ATmega328 microprocessor as well as
some components to support it. Here are the parts well add:
Part Description
Library
Exact Part Name
Quantity
ATmega328P (PTH)
SparkFun-DigitalIC
ATMEGA328P_PDIP
W Resistors
SparkFun-Resistors
RESISTORPTH-1/4W
5mm LEDs
SparkFun-LED
LED5MM
CAPPTH
VCC
0.1F Ceramic Capacitor SparkFun-Capacitors

SparkFun-Aesthetics
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Ground Symbol
SparkFun-Aesthetics
GND
To
rotate toolbar
or right click before placing the part. Place your microcontroller in the center of the
frame, then add the other parts around it like so:
Step 5: Adding the Connectors

Three connectors will finish off our design. One 8-pin connector to break out the analog pins, a 6pin serial programming header, and a 2x3-pin ICSP programming header. Here are the three parts
to add for this step:
Part Description
Library
Exact Part Name
Quantity
8-Pin 0.1" Header
SparkFunConnectors
M081X08
2x3 AVR Programming

Header
SparkFunConnectors
AVR_SPI_PRG_6PTH
6-Pin Serial Programming

Header
SparkFunConnectors
ARDUINO_SERIAL_PROGRAMPTH
SparkFunAesthetics
VCC
GND
Ground Symbol
SparkFun-
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Aesthetics
Finally! Heres what your schematic should look like with every part added:
Next well wire net them all together.
Wiring Up the Schematic

With all of the parts added to our schematic, its time to wire them together. Theres one major
caveat here before we start: even though were wiring parts on the schematic, we not going to use
the WIRE tool
to connect them together. Instead, well use the NET tool
(left toolbar,
or under the Draw menu). The WIRE tool would be better-named as a line-drawing tool, NET does a
better job of connecting components.
Using the NET Tool

To use the NET tool, hover over the very end of a pin (as close as possible, zoom in if you have to),
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and left-click once to start a wire. Now a green line should be following your mouse cursor around.
To terminate the net, left-click on either another pin or a net.
The hard part, sometimes, is identifying which part on a circuit symbol is actually a pin. Usually
theyre recognizable by a thin, horizontal, red line off to the side of a part. Sometimes (not always)
theyre labeled with a pin number. Make sure you click on the very end of the pin when you start or
finish a net route.
Route the Power Input Circuit

Start back in the upper left, and route the power input circuit like so:
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Whenever a net splits in two directions a junction node is created. This signifies that all three
intersecting nets are connected. If two nets cross, but theres not a junction, those nets are not
connected.
Route the ATmega328 Circuit

Next well route the ATmega328 to its supporting circuitry. Theres LEDs, a connector, resistor,
capacitor and VCC/GND symbols to route to:
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Dont forget to add nets between the LEDs, resistors, and GND symbols!
Making Named, Labeled Net Stubs

The remaining nets we have to make are not going to be as easy to cleanly route. For example, we
need to connect the TXO pin on JP2 to the ATmegas RXD pin, all the way on the other side. You
could do it, it would work, but itd be really ugly. Instead, well make net stubs and give them
unique names to connect them.
Well start by adding short, one-sided nets to each of the six pins on the serial connector. Begin by
starting a net at a pin, just as youve been doing. Terminate the net by left-clicking a few gridlengths over to the right of the pin. Then, instead of routing to another pin, just hit ESC to finish the
route. When youre done, it should look like this:
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Next, well use the NAME tool

(left toolbar, or under the Edit menu) to name each of the six
nets. With the NAME tool selected, clicking on a net should open a new dialog. Start by naming the
net connected to the top, GND pin. Delete the auto-generated name (e.g. N$14), and replace it with
GND (sans the quotation marks). This should result in a warning dialog, asking you if you want
to connect this net to all of the other nets named GND (that would be every net connected to a
GND symbol). Thanks for looking out for us EAGLE, but in this case Yes we do want to connect
GND to GND.
After naming a net, you should use the LABEL tool
to add a text label. With the LABEL tool
selected, left-click on the net you just named. This should spawn a piece of text that says GND,
left-click again to place the label down right on top of your net.
Follow that same order of operations for the remaining five net stubs. In the end, they should look
like this (note the net connected to the TXO pin is named RX, and a TX net connects to RXI
thats on purpose):
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VCC should be the only other net that warns you that youll be connecting to other nets named
VCC (anything connected to a VCC voltage node). For the other named nets, well need to create
this same stub somewhere else. Where exactly? Well, we need to add a RX and TX net on the
ATmega328, and a DTR nearby as well:
Even though theres no green net connecting these pins, every net with the same, exact name is
actually connected.
We need to do a lot of the same to connect the 2x3 programming header to the ATmega328. First,
wire up the connector like so (naming/labeling MOSI, MISO, SCK, and RESET):
ERROR: stackunderflow
OFFENDING COMMAND: ~
STACK:

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