Below are the different techniques that can be used in the production of Printed Circuit Board or PCBs; Here are the main approaches:
- Manual Design
- Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
- Schematic Capture
- Auto-routing:
- Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
- 3D PCB Design
- Modular Design
Manual Design
- Hand-drawn schematics and layouts
- Most suitable for basic designs of products or even when creating mock-ups.
Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
- Most common method
- Incorporates state of the art PCB design tools
Schematic Capture
- Creating circuit diagrams digitally
- Technical premise for usage of PCB layout in CAD software
Auto-Routing
- The ability of a program to automatically determine trace routes
- Useful in the cases when the designs are intricate, but often the code must be optimized by hand.
Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
- The strategy of improving product design to match the production processes.
- Takes into account such aspects as the position of the components and the width of the tracks.
3D PCB Design
- Performs the generation of 3D models for PCB
- Aids in creating an overview of the final product while searching for interference.
Modular Design
- Subdividing complex circuits into functional blocks
- Improves organization and reusability