Automated design of printed circuit boards made by electronic computer –aided design (CAD) with the next using in CNC- machine

Abstract

The article presents methods and means of 3D design of printed circuit boards in CAx. Automated placement of elements on the board is implemented by means of API SolidWorks using Visual Studio C#. The API application works by an algorithm that allows you to create a 3D layout of printed circuit boards. Each component of the library contains a conditional graphic notation of the element. With the help of the implemented algorithm, a comprehensive approach is provided, which consists in the fact that already at this stage the preparation of the strategy for tracing the conductors of the future printed circuit board is carried out, the classes of circuits are determined and the necessary technological parameters are set, as well as the data necessary for the preparation of design documentation is generated. After the completion of the work on the input of the scheme, a check is made for the presence of errors and compliance with the specified parameters, and if the test is successful, a list of circuits is generated for transfer to the tracing program. From this moment, any possibility of errors in the subsequent stages of design is excluded. CAD DipTrace was used to trace printed circuit boards and generate g-code. Printed circuit board processing is carried out on a CNC machine - CNC3018 using the Candle program. The printed circuit board tracks are created by forming a groove between the track and the metallized coating of the textolite. With the help of the formed height map, the uniform removal of the metallization layer over the entire area of the textolite is ensured. In addition, holes are drilled for the output elements of the circuit, the printed circuit board is cut along the contour and covered with a layer of tin to prevent oxidation of its metallized coating. The considered CAD methods and tools made it possible to automate the design of the printed circuit board of the FM radio receiver control module. As a result of the performed work, means of automating the design of printed circuit boards were applied and a fully functional printed circuit board with a track width of 0.8 mm was obtained.