Electronics Design

Starting Off with Eagle

Eagle is a PCB designing Software which is not fully Open Source but it can download it Under a student Licence and on the very basic ground it doesn't makes an difference all the necessary options, tools are vailabele iin the education licenced version.
It is avilable for all type of platform, I use windows ..
I downloaded the latest version of Eagle 9.3.1 from this link.
Then I opened a New project on the eagle and give it a name and then click on the project,
There were various options as u can see from the below slider image number 3rd so I need to make a schematic of the board so I selcted schematic and proceeded.
On the top right Icon there sis a grid setting I turn it on for better placing of the components.



Now let's analyse the circuit that is to be made,

The task is to anlayze this pcb and add a switch or pushbutton and LED to this design.
The components used here are-
  • AtTiny44
  • 20 Mhz crystal
  • Capacitors 1uF
  • Resiter 10k
  • Some header Pins for programming(ISP) and Communication(FTDI)
I'll be adding-
  • A LED
  • Pushbutton
  • Resistors for LED and Button Acoordingly

So, Similar to what we have done in CAD week i.e the designing of the mechanical parts giving them the appropriate dimensions and all,
likewise in PCB designinig too there are various packages, like the same IC of Attiny can be manufactured in many forms like throughole, SMD, etc. depending on the type of usage and size the person opts for the right package.
Keynote: Selecting the right package of components is very important because it will reflect that in the board layout.
Every component has a footprint which is basically its layout which can be made manually but the easier and best way is to use the libraries.
Libraries contains the files and footprints of the components.
For making the schematic it is necessary to choose the components which is of right package. One can add as many library files in the eagle.
I downloaded the Fab.library from this link which is given on the schedule page of Electronics Design week.
Then I extracted and pasted the .lbr file in the library folder of eagle, for me it was
-->C-->Eagle 9.3.1 --> eagle
in this folder many other .lbr files were already there so I pasted the fab.lbr in this folder.


Now it's the time to add the components for the schematic it's pretty easy you just have to type 'add' on the command box and hit -->Enter.
You will be redirected to a list of componrnts i just typed fab*(* to show me the library and components it contains).


Then I selected the components and made a schematic. A keypoint in making connection its easier with 'LABEL' which physically connects without creating any mess moving out wires from everywhere.


The final Schematic looked like this-


Checking the ERC- Electric Rules Check


This is a handy tool that allows to point out common errors in your schematic. An ERC will check for the following issues:
  • Are all of your nets properly connected and labeled on your schematic?
  • Do you have any conflicting outputs/inputs on your schematic?
  • Are there any open or overlapping pins and ports on your schematic?


Types of ERC Errors


When you run an ERC for the first time, you’ll be presented with several error categories, including:

Consistency Errors: This error means that something isn’t right between your schematic and PCB layout, and your changes likely aren’t in sync between both files. If you get one of these errors, consider it a major red flag to compare both versions of your design before moving ahead.
Errors: Errors are the red stoplights. You need to step on the breaks and check these out before proceeding. Errors can be pretty significant, like having an unconnected pin that will throw your whole circuit out of whack.
Warnings: Warnings are the yellow stoplights. While these types of errors might not mess up your design if you move forward without fixing them, it’s good practice to slow down and review them one by one. These guys are minor compared to Errors, and n include many non-design breaking issues like missing net values.

Source-https://www.autodesk.com/products/eagle/blog/schematic-basics-part-3-erc/

Error I got:

Fortunately I did not get any error just a warning that my switch S1 had no value like I did not assigned any value to it, as it was not rewuired to asssign the value to the pushbutton so that can be ignored.

Creating the Board from schematic

On clicking on the top we Brd/Sch tab We enter into the board view where all the footprints of Schematic are present and I need to manually arrange all the component in a particular layout to solve like a puzzle so when routing my wires don't overlap each other.
In the process of placing the components use the rastnet too just to clear all the excess air wires.



Now u have to create a route or traces of your board which is to be build, it's kinda like solving a jigsaw puzzle but thanks to the Autorouter feature of Eagle. Let's see how i used it..

Need of Resistances and Calculating It's Values

LED's are fragile in terms of amount f current flowing to them, a high current will blow of the LED so a need of current limiter is required in fomr of a resister.
Claculation of the value can be done by using Ohm's Law-
Ohm's Law is given by:
V = I R
where V is the potential difference between two points which include a resistance R.
I is the current flowing through the resistance.
Based on the above formula and the Datasheet of the Red LED which has been used for the accurate information regarding voltage and current, I calculated that if Voltage (V)is 5 Volts and Current (I) is 20 Miliampere (i.e 0.02 Ampere) so the resistance (R) is the Voltage divided by the current as shown below:
R = V/I
= 5 / 0.02
R = 250 ohm
The calculation as per the formula explains I need at least 250 ohm resistance and so accordingly I select the closest resistor available -499R for the above mentioned function and purpose.

Button

Reference from - https://circuitdigest.com/electronic-circuits/push-button-led-circuit

Button with the "push-to-make" (normally-open or NO) mechanism are a type of push button electrical switch that operates by the switch making contact with the electronic system when the button is pressed and breaks the current process when the button is released.

I used A pullup resister of 10K to my button.
Pull-up: As the name suggest the end of the resister is connected to VCC or supply so that 0V flows on pressing the switch.

With a pull-up resistor, the input pin will read a high state when the button is not pressed. In other words, a small amount of current is flowing between VCC and the input pin (not to ground), thus the input pin reads close to VCC. When the button is pressed, it connects the input pin directly to ground. The current flows through the resistor to ground, thus the input pin reads a low state. Keep in mind, if the resistor wasn’t there, your button would connect VCC to ground, which is very bad and is also known as a short.
Pull-Down: Similar to pullup the end is connected to ground so as the button is pressed ground formed or Vcc flows along the ckt.


Routing Your Board With the Autorouter


Doing a DRC check Design rules


Reference taken from an article on quora- https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-use-auto-router-on-Eagle-PCB-design
  • Click on Design Rule Check (DRC) option in toolbar
  • When a DRC dialog box pops up, click on Size tab and set the parameters. The size depends on the application of the circuit board.
    Say If you are making a circuit where a relay is used or a constant high current is going to be flown on that trace then you need to make that trace bit wider than othre traces where the current is low. here For my design I chose the size to be 16 mils.

    Then click on Clearance and set the following parameters. Again you only need to set clearance in first column depends of how much clearance you want in your design only I used 14 mils clearance for the design. It's basically the distance between the traces the pads and the traces, After that click on the apply button.

  • Also one of the key points is to decide the trace width and clearence between pads and traces.
    For my design I kept the trace width of 16 mils and clearence of 14 mils.

    While doing the DRC for the circuit I didn't get any errors so I then started for the routing of the pcb.

  • Routing Your Board With the Autorouter


  • Open your PCB layout (.brd) file from your Autodesk EAGLE Control Panel.
  • Select the Autorouter autorouter-icon tool on the left-hand side of your interface to open the Autorouter Main Setup dialog.
  • Now there's few settings here that you can adjust, like routing directions, effort, and the number of threads to use in your CPU. We can try to change it but we will leave as it is just we are dealing with only one layer of PCB so we will just select the top layer and leave all as NA.
    Then click on Start job.
  • Once the routing is complete, select the Evaluate button, and you can see your completion percentage in the bottom-left corner of your interface.
    The rule of thumb of routing is that it should be 100%. but incase of less than that some adjustment and manual routing helps.



  • Some valuable instructions taken from instructors-
  • The traces should be going from between the spaces of the pads on the '+'
  • Avoid giving 90 degree turns or sharp edges
  • Autorout makes it extra complicated making round and round of wires rip up and make it clean even after auto route one needs to manually adjust for perfect trace.
My routing was 94% and there was one air wire from the VCC to the resister of led so I left that planning to add a jumper wire along it.

Now go to Files-->Export as Image
Use monochrome and export as it is..
Error Error !!
While going throuh my instructors Documentation He instructed to keep resolution high upto 1000 dpi but It was to be fone in FamModules.
But I exported increasing it resolution therby ignoring that it inscreased my size of PCB and blindly generated the .rml files in Fabmods.
If you want to know how to gnereate .rml go to my Electronics Production week from this link.
The error in dimension led to this..


Doing everything again!
So again I exported the file from Eagle this time taking all the dimension in Consideration..
Then I generated the tool path in Fabmodules and get set to go for miling on SRM-20!
The files for above circuit can be downloaded from here
hello-echo.sch
hello-echo.brd
All files

Error Understanding in sizes..

I've observed for my version of eagle whenever I export the file in low resolution an din fab mods increase the resolution the size changes changin the size of the pads i.e tha package size of the component gets changed.
Resolving error-
I don''t know whether this is the correct method or not, while exporting the file I always keep the resolutuon about 1000 or 1500 anf then after importing in fabmoules I increase the Resolution to double or twice the time I exported in eagle i.e if 1000 then 2000 in fabmodules(what I did in my board) if exported in 1500 then 3000 should be there in fabmodules then the size is accurate and the package size of the components doesn't gets disturbed.


Using KiCAD

KiCAD is another open source crossplatform software available for designinig circuits and renndering them. You can download KiCAD from this link link

You need to download the library for footprints and schematic from the schedule page of fabacadmy

Then I did the ERC check for the schematic

Following the error I again tried to eliminate the errors by making the labels connected to the pins I figured they were not connected.



The problem I face was I did not find any foot print while reading the netlist you have to manually select the footprints of each component that you have to place this was a very tricky part as I was confused which package to select I took help with our Lab manager as he had used kikad earlier.


Also there was nno autoroutung feature in KiCad So I left it as it is as I was more inclined in using eagle than kiCad
The files of kicad can be downloaded from here

Let's Start Soldering!




Tesing the Circuit

Using the Multimeter/One of the group assignment


I use the mutimeter to test the continuity of my circuit as well as to check wheter the proper volatges were being received across he components. Ou group assignment was also to test the microcontroller board with a test equipmnet in the lab we have multimeter the dso is also on the way to come but i tried my hands on the mutimeter understanding it's various fucntions and limitations and how to measure voltages, current and continuity.
Continuity mode means: If the probes are connected—either by a continuous circuit, or by touching each other directly—the test current flows through. The screen displays a value of zero (or near zero), and the multimeter beeps.
Continuity! If the test current isn't detected, it means there's no continuity. We use the VCC (red cable) and GND (black cable). This is indeed a very important aspect and a basic concept for testing all types of PCB's.
Testing for continuity at various traces and soldered components
Testing the leds to turn them on via multimeter probes



Using The DSO


...it's still left on to do list the lab doesn't own a DSO we might be arranging and learning about it very soon..

Group Assignment(Updated after procurement of DSO)

For the group page of this week visit Our Group Page.

About Oscilloscopes

One needs to understand the circuits on signal level, which multimeters fails to do. In this case Oscilloscopes is the answer. A digital oscilloscope measures the signal, and then converts that measurement into a digital format using an ADC converter, after which the data measured is depicted as a digital waveform representation. From this representation various paramters can be evaluated. In our lab we got Scientific SMO1102E and Keysight DSO1052B Oscilloscopes.

Key Features

  • Bandwidth = 50 MHz
  • Channels = 2
  • Max Memory Depth = 16 kpts
  • Max Sample Rate = 1 GSa/s
  • Display Size = 5.7 inch
  • ADC Bits = 8 bits
  • USB storage, RS232C and J45 interface
  • Multi-waveforms math, FFT Function
  • Built-in delay sweep function
  • Waveform Record and Recall, Trigger Mode for Edge, Video, Pulse Width, Slope and Alternate

Measuring Signals

Measuring Digital Signals

we tested out the crystal on an Arduino UNO, we connected the probes to the crystal of Ardunio Uno which showed a frequency of 16 MHz.
We then uploaded Blink code on the UNO board and we observed the pulse signal.

Measuring Analog Signals

For measuring the analog signals, We connected both the terminals for the motors with the probes of the DSO and then we rotated the motor shaft manually.

Learning/Observations from group Assignment

  • On the DSO Screen, It may be noticed that digital pulses with a time gap of 1 seconds were observed with peak value of voltage of 5V.
  • Also it was obeserved that the pulses were smooth, as we caliberated the probes earlier as showcased in video
  • Analog signal was clearly visualized on the DSO Screen.(An Analog signal is any continous signal for which the time varying feature (variable) of the signal is a representation of some other time varying signal i.e analogous to another time varying signal, This is also the reason why wave form is rising up and down with time.)
  • DSO was measuring voltage w.r.t Time and A peak voltage of about +10V was observed. When the motor shaft direction is reversed the signal also changes the ploarity and a reverse peak voltage of about -8V was observed

Learning Outcome

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