How do you design printed circuit board?

Answer 1

If you want to know a printed circuit board is designed here is the explanation in simple terms.

1. First you decide on the components which are in the design.

2. Need a software in which you can get symbols (both schematic symbols and physical symbols) of standard components and which also allows you to create your own symbols for new components which are not in the standard tool library.

3. In schematic capture tool, you will use symbols of components and also connect the pins of components with wire lines to complete the schematic drawing. Based on complexity and size of the design this can be few pages or hundreds of pages.

4. In the layout tool you will have to make a board outline (based on the shape/size of PCB you want to design) and define number of layers etc.

5. Schematics need to be exported to layout using the board outline you designed. Result will be that all the physical symbols will appear in the layout tool along with un-routed wire connections.

6. Now you can place components on the PCB based on floor plan (where you want to place what components) and start routing the connections. Decide thickness of routes or traces based on impedance and current these nets need to carry. Based on how many layers have been defined and needed as per design traces can run through multiple layers

7. When routing is complete, with help of tool you need to create PCB fabrication data for PCB fabricator.

These are top level steps involved in a PCB design. There are finer steps like back annotation (process to sync up layout and schematics) which also important. Many tools give options for auto placement, auto routing which can aid in the design. These used with proper constraints and care can help speed up the design process. Check for PCB tool vendor websites.

- Neeraj

AnswerProton led displays says:

Go to www.circuitboards.com scroll down to the links area and click free cad software by cadsoft. My friend told me the other PCB designing software mentioned makes you pay for there software if you want it manufactured outside of there facility. Basically locking you into there price or no price. Cadsoft is free up to a certain layer count I believe.

Answer 2

A: To make one at home you need a copper clad of the right size a way to mask off the copper that is going to be removed and finally a chemical to do just that remove the copper. popular is ferric sulfide.

Answer 3

Printed circuit boards are typically green or red, with a lot of holes on the surface through which to put the leads of electronic components. An unfinished board will have its traces (lines of conducting material) very visible, until all of the components are added and soldered on, at which point they become the main focal point.

Answer 4

The fastest easiest way is to draw your pattern onto a copper clad board and then etch it in ferric chloride.

You can use a permanent marker like a sharpie and draw lines(hint they have to be solid and consistent lines), or you can use tape(I have used electrical tape before).

Answer 5

1. Circuit is designed and laid out as trace paths either on graph paper by hand or electronically using computer software.
2. Copper clad circuit board material is purchased.
3. The copper on the circuit board material is cleaned and polished to remove any oxidation or contaminates.
4. An etch mask is applied to the copper on the circuit board material, duplicating the trace paths laid out in step 1. This can be done many ways, dry transfers & tapes by hand, photographically, toner transfer using heat, etc.
5. The board is now immersed in a tank of a chemical etchant solution (e.g. ferric chloride, ammonium persulfate), after a few minutes all the copper not protected by the etch maskwill have etched away leaving the desired pattern of traces behind.
6. The board is now removed from the tank and thoroughly rinsed to remove all traces of the etchant.
7. The etch mask is removed.
8. Holes are drilled for components.

For multilayer (more than double sided) circuit boards, several very thin copper clad boards are run through steps 3 thru 7 above, these boards are coated with an epoxy adhesive, carefully aligned, and placed in a high pressure press until the epoxy cures. When removed from the press, step 8 is performed and the holes are electroplated with copper to interconnect the various layers.

Once made and before components are installed the copper traces are usually protected in some way to preventcorrosion. A nonreactive metal is sometimes used like gold, tin, or by dipping in molten solder. Most modern circuit boards are now protected with a coating of green varnish, applied everywhere except the component solder pads and the edge connectors (which are usually gold plated).