Help with PCB design

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joshawatt
 
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Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:17 pm

Help with PCB design

Post by joshawatt »

I hope this is the right channel to ask this question, if not please let me know!
I am trying to design a circuit that uses the micro:bit edge connector (this one: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3888 ). I have never designed a PCB like this before because from what I have found there are no pre-built boar layouts for this item. How would I go about making it on say jlcpcb (that is what I use but I also have Eagle if that is a better way to do it). I have the datasheet for it as well, however I don't know the units of measurement, I assume it is in millimeters. (and now that I think about it, I will just measure it once I get home). I tried to create SMD pads in JLCPCB but I could not get it to route any connections.
Thanks

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Help with PCB design

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

I'm afraid we don't know anything about JLCPCB, but we have a couple of tutorials about creating device footprints in Eagle:

https://learn.adafruit.com/creating-acc ... s-in-eagle
https://learn.adafruit.com/ktowns-ultim ... e-tutorial

Those walk through all the steps necessary to transfer measurements from the datasheet to a layout package, and then assign the connections the way Eagle does it.

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dmpyron
 
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Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:14 am

Re: Help with PCB design

Post by dmpyron »

There are several rather sound YouTube videos on the basics but beware of the c**p. I've found that starting from functional blocks and going to netlists and then having the software build your schematics saves a lot of grief. You'll likely have to do some of the floorplanning yourself as most of the routing software can still leave you with less than optimal designs. But with a little thought and learning you can do it. I learned a lot working as the sysadmin for a bunch of overachievers at AMD.

Try a small, simple design. Don't fab it, just go through DRC to make sure you understand what you're doing. It's not "easy" and it's certainly not "obvious to the casual observer" nor a "trivial exercise left to the reader", but it is doable. When I was in undergrad the EEs were still learning how to design ICs on drafting boards. The 8080 was done that way and look at what that got us.

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