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Lecture 1 - Intro and SolidWorks PCB

This document provides an overview of the course "Introduction and SolidWorks PCB" being taught in winter 2019. It outlines the topics that will be covered each week, including SolidWorks PCB tutorials, building and testing a power supply PCB, chassis and panel assembly, and a final quiz. Requirements include attending all labs and lectures, following pacing to complete sections, and not removing projects from the lab until completed. Safety equipment like goggles must be worn. SolidWorks PCB will be used to design the PCBs.

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188 views

Lecture 1 - Intro and SolidWorks PCB

This document provides an overview of the course "Introduction and SolidWorks PCB" being taught in winter 2019. It outlines the topics that will be covered each week, including SolidWorks PCB tutorials, building and testing a power supply PCB, chassis and panel assembly, and a final quiz. Requirements include attending all labs and lectures, following pacing to complete sections, and not removing projects from the lab until completed. Safety equipment like goggles must be worn. SolidWorks PCB will be used to design the PCBs.

Uploaded by

myturtle game
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture 1

Introduction and SolidWorks PCB


Winter 2019
Steven McClain
Steven McClain
Office: SW2 – 357
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 604-412-7591

I will post my office hours on the door.


You are welcome to drop by my office anytime.
 Week One
 SolidWorks PCB tutorial.
 Power Supply PCB layout.

 Week Two
 Soldering practice.
 Soldering Power Supply PCB.
 Power Supply PCB Testing.

 Week Three
 Chassis Assembly.

 Week Four
 Panel Assembly.
 Final Testing.
 Quiz.
Attendance Requirements
• You must attend all labs and lectures.
• If you miss labs you may not have enough time to
Criteria %
complete the power supply.
PCB Design 20
• We will be pacing the labs so that everybody
PCBA Test 20
should get a chance to complete each section.
Workmanship 20
• Once you have completed a section you must wait
Unit Test 30
until the next week to start the next section.
Quiz 10
• Work with your lab instructors for the exact timing.
• You may NOT take your work out of the lab until
the power supply is completed, tested, and
marked.
Learning Resources
 All required documentation (lecture notes, guidelines, and other documentation)
will be provided as online PDF files located in ShareOut

Course Specific Requirements


 Students are required to bring the following lab tools:
 precision side cutters.
 needle nose pliers.
 safety goggles.

 Students are recommended to bring the following lab tools:


 Wire strippers.
 A tablet or similar device may be used during lab sessions to access course materials.

Safety equipment or protective clothing


 Safety goggles (mandatory).
 Closed toed shoes.
The BCIT Power Supply is an Off-line power source
capable of suppling three linear regulated DC voltages
with a common ground.

DC Output Voltage Max Current


-15 Volts 1 Amp
+5 Volts 1 Amp
+1.2 Volts to +15 Volts 1.5 Amps

Based on a design that has been built thousands of times


by BCIT students over the years.
 The power supply will be housed in
a 3x4x5 inch aluminum chassis with
removable front and rear panels.
 You did the box design with
AutoCAD already.
 Usually we would develop several
3D models and prototypes to
confirm that this box design is valid.
• A schematic will document the
interconnections between every
component in our proposed
design.

• The result of schematic capture


is a node list.

• A node list is a list of component


pin numbers for each node on
the schematic.

• Many of you used Altium to draw


a similar schematic.
• We need to verify our design by
building and testing a prototype.
• There are many options:
• Dead-bug.
• Breadboard.
• Perf-board.
• Wire-wrap
 Once our design is verified, we need to prepare for
manufacturing.
 Most prototyping methods are not suited to use in a final
product. They are usually fragile, too labor intensive,
expensive, and error prone to build in any large quantity.
 A printed circuit board (PCB) is made one or more layers
of copper and fiberglass glued together.
 A PCB can have many layers (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, … 32!)
 Layers are connected by drilling holes and then copper
plating the inside of the hole. This is called a ‘via’.
 Each pin on every part is connected to the copper with a
‘pad’. A pad may or may not have a hole.
 PCBs can be easily manufactured at a very low cost.
 Photographic masks are used to create very precise
copies ready for adding parts.
 Printed circuit boards are made by applying a mask onto
the blank copper and then etching the board with acid.
The acid removes any copper that is not protected.
 After etching, layers are stacked and drilled, vias are
plated, then solder mask and silkscreen printing is added.
 Once the PCB is completed then it is tested.
 After testing parts are soldered on and then the
final PCB assembly can be tested.
 Parts can be soldered with through-hole pins
or with a pin that is surface mounted.
 PCBs can be inexpensively ‘stuffed’ and soldered
in large quantities using industry standard machines.
 We must create a ‘mask’ for each layer of our PCB.
 Masks are used to select patches of copper that will
be ‘etched’ using an acid.
 Masks are also used to create a ‘solder mask’ which
is a layer on the top and bottom that covers
everything except places that will be soldered.
 Masks are also used for other printing or stenciling
needed during manufacture.
 All masks MUST perfectly line up and exactly match
the schematic or our PCB will not work properly!
 PCB masks can be created by drawing on a clear acetate sheet.
 Dry-transfer pads and traces can be also be used.
 A light sensitized mask is then used to optically transfer the image to the PCB
copper.
 This is obviously tedious and error prone. But that was how it was done for many
early designs!
 Modern designs will always use a computer based drafting tool to electronically
generate the masks. Masks are sent ‘by email’ to the factory.
 The files are in a standard format called ‘Gerber’ format.
 There is one Gerber file for each layer of copper plus several extras for other
manufacturing information.
 AutoCAD can be used to create the mask files. AutoCAD files can be converted to Gerber
format. Why not use AutoCAD for PCB design?
 A good PCB tool will:
 Ensure that the schematic matches the PCB.
 Ensure that parts have the correct footprint on the PCB.
 Check that parts are spaced properly and that they can be properly placed during manufacture.
 Check the geometry of the copper to make sure that traces are the correct width.
 Check that there are no overlapping traces that create a short circuit.
 Verify complex PCB parameters such as controlled impedances and differential pair balance.
 Check other manufacturing parameters to ensure that the PCB can be (inexpensively) manufactured.
 Ensure that all masks are scaled correctly and are perfectly registered so that everything lines up.

AutoCAD does none of this!


KiCAD
• Free 0$, No limits.
• Open source, well supported on multiple platforms. What more could you want?

Eagle
• Free 0$, Standard $15/month or $100/year, or Premium $65/month, $520/year.
• Free edition has a limited number of layers and a limited number of schematic sheets.

Allegro / OrCAD PCB


• OrCAD PCB is $1,340/year. OrCad PCB Pro is $3,410/year. Allegro $$$$.
• No limits. Very Powerful. Very Complex.

Altium Designer
• Altium Designer costs $7,245 and then you need to pay $/ year if you want to stay up to date.
• Altium is the Ferrari of the PCB design packages.
• It is also the most popular package used in industry.
• It is reliable, powerful, and unlimited with a modest learning curve.

SolidWorks PCB
• %60 of the cost of Altium.
• Based on software licensed from Altium.
• SolidWorks PCB It is slightly simplified compared to Altium.
• Altium files can be easily loaded into SolidWorks PCB.
• Well integrated into the other SolidWorks software.
• SolidWorks PCB is the software that we will use in this course.

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