Differences between revisions 2 and 3

How to work with an electronics project

Plan the connection in a system diagram
- What is the form factor of the input and output connectors
- How the connectors are assigned to the front and rear panels
- Assign reasonable panel labels
Panel design
- Copy the past design files, as they are nicely designed for the LIGO chassis
- If the PCB is directly mounted on the panel, be aware that the connector height needs to be precisely adjusted.
- Arrange the connectors and the labels as planned in 1.
- Is the planned connector assignment physically feasible?
- If not, how should the assignment/arrangement be?
- Once the design is done, reflect the modification in 1.
- Save the panel files. Export the design in PDF and STP
SCH/PCB design in Altium
- Copy the past files depending on the # of layers (usually 2 or 4 layers)
- First of all, copy the files and open them in Altium, then rename the file names.
- Approximately design the circuit.
- Look at the PCB file and remove all the components from the PCB (except for the PCB outline)
- Use "Design/Import Changes From ....PrjPcb" to force the consistency between the SCH and PCB. Always incorporate the change into the PCB.
- You'll face a bunch of errors because there are missing footprints. Update the library.
- By the way the paper size can be changed from the "properties" panel of the schematic by selecting the templates.
- How to make a library for the missing parts
  - Go to the "Manufacturer Part Seach" panel.
  - There, search for your favorite component. The component has to have a green IC chip mark (i.e., has a 2D/3D footprint model)
  - Click the component photo to download the model. It is downloaded to somewhere weird like c:\Users\Public\Documents\Altium\AD21\Library\ExportIntLib\
  - Extract the zipped library. Open xxxxxx.LibPkg. It contains PcbLib and SchLib.
  - Go to the downloaded SchLib and copy the component to your SchLib. The component has a strange name, so this is the chance to change the name for your convenience.
  - Go to the downloaded PcbLib and copy the component footprint to your PcbLib. The component has a strange name, so this is the chance to change the name for your convenience.
  - If you change the footprint name, the link between the component and the footprint is broken. Correct it by adding the footprint in the SchLib.
  - Try to incorporate all the 3D models into the parts as much as possible. It will help to match with the panels in the assembly confirmation below.
- For the standard 19inch LIGO units, the board width is expected to be 14000mil. Use the dimensions to align the connectors along with the panel design.
Assembly
- aaa

Electronics/HowToDesignCircuits (last edited 2023-12-29 09:41:35 by KojiaraiATligoDOTorg)

-  ⇤ ← Revision 2 as of 2023-12-23 22:37:14 → 
  Size: 1073
  Editor: KojiaraiATligoDOTorg
  Comment:
+   ← Revision 3 as of 2023-12-28 09:03:09 → ⇥
  Size: 2833
  Editor: KojiaraiATligoDOTorg
  Comment:
-Deletions are marked like this.
+Additions are marked like this.
 Line 15:
-   * If not, how are the assignment/arrangement should be?
+   * If not, how should the assignment/arrangement be?
 Line 20:
-. PCB design in Altium
+. SCH/PCB design in Altium
 Line 22:
-   * First of all just copy the files and open it in Altium, then rename the file names.
+   * First of all, copy the files and open them in Altium, then rename the file names.

   * Approximately design the circuit.
   * Look at the PCB file and remove all the components from the PCB (except for the PCB outline)
   * Use "Design/Import Changes From ....PrjPcb" to force the consistency between the SCH and PCB. Always incorporate the change into the PCB.
   * You'll face a bunch of errors because there are missing footprints. Update the library.

   * By the way the paper size can be changed from the "properties" panel of the schematic by selecting the templates.
-Line 25:
+Line 32:
+      * Go to the "Manufacturer Part Seach" panel. 
      * There, search for your favorite component. The component has to have a green IC chip mark (i.e., has a 2D/3D footprint model)
      * Click the component photo to download the model. It is downloaded to somewhere weird like c:\Users\Public\Documents\Altium\AD21\Library\ExportIntLib\
      * Extract the zipped library. Open xxxxxx.LibPkg. It contains PcbLib and SchLib.
      * Go to the downloaded SchLib and copy the component to your SchLib. The component has a strange name, so this is the chance to change the name for your convenience.
      * Go to the downloaded PcbLib and copy the component footprint to your PcbLib. The component has a strange name, so this is the chance to change the name for your convenience.
      * If you change the footprint name, the link between the component and the footprint is broken. Correct it by adding the footprint in the SchLib.
      * Try to incorporate all the 3D models into the parts as much as possible. It will help to match with the panels in the assembly confirmation below.

   * For the standard 19inch LIGO units, the board width is expected to be 14000mil. Use the dimensions to align the connectors along with the panel design.