[NEW F18] Electrical How to make PCB(Printed Circuit Boards)

Getting started

We use upverter.com for designing our circuits since it allows for group collaboration, has version control, and contains many parts available in their library so that we do not need to find the measurements for each part. It is also similar to other ECAD(Electrical Computer Aid Design) software, so it is not too difficult to learn if anyone has experience with other ECAD software.

Tutorials

These are Eagle CAD tutorials, but they can help to get a better grasp of how to use upverter(with a few control changes) by going through these tutorials. designing schematic: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/using-eagle-schematic designing board: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/using-eagle-board-layout general resources: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/tags/eagle

Getting started with Upverter

1. Go to upverter.com and create an account.
2. send your upverter user name over slack so that we can add you to our group upverter.

Steps for making PCB

use mouse to make everything easier

1. Design the schematic on paper or on a board. Can also do this in the application but it is hard to do quick sketches there.
2. Go to upverter and go to dashboard to switch to robobuggy upverter page.
3. click create new board
4. click the add parts to add parts to the schematic and use the net tool for the wiring. Also label the parts so that they are easier to identify for the PCB layout.
5. Go to PCB layout and the components will have lines connecting where the wires need to connect. Rearrange the components to minimize size of PCB and lines crossing. Then add the wire to connect the components. If lines cross, then use a via to go from one side of the PCB to the other and bridge underneath the wire that is blocking another.
6. Tell leader when PCB is done so that it can be sent for manufacturing.