Yes but if u have already made all the possible changes & u have somewhat of a static design & u just want the program to auto make the traces.Yes and no. Most ECAD tools do have both autoplacement and autorouter options. I find the most of autoplacement tools unmitigated useless compared to a human. The autorouter in most cases works. But again an experienced human can often do better. Creating a PCB is a quite dynamic process. Then I create a PCB. I often find the need to go back to the schematic and do changes. Like swop around the order then using components with many similar functions say a 4 OPAMP IC
I am not exaggerating at all. I cannot stress enough the importance of learning to do things yourself instead of trying to get a stupid machine to do it for you. It doesn't know what is the best layout the way a human being does. Algorithms may work with parts of a design, but for others it will completely destroy it, over-complicate it, etc. It's just not worth it. At least for newbies, I strongly encourage you to try it on your own, do the layout yourself, and learn how laying traces works. When you're more experienced with PCB design you may choose to use an autorouter, though real experienced designers understand how useless they are and don't use them at all, or at least know how to fix the awful layouts they produce.I think you're exaggerating, and so is Dave Jones. It's a judgment call to say that putting more work into something is necessary, and also a judgment call when we say "It's good enough". At least in a professional environment, our own labor is a resource that we shouldn't waste--so when do we say that we've got an adequate result? There's never going to be a clear answer to this.
If you're lucky.The only way this could be answered is if you managed to find an auto-placing auto-routing optimising pcb layout package and I'm not sure that even exists. Normally one has to layout the components on the board and route the traces.
Well, I was going to say right after I build up and test the prototype board to verify performance......I think you're exaggerating, and so is Dave Jones. It's a judgment call to say that putting more work into something is necessary, and also a judgment call when we say "It's good enough". At least in a professional environment, our own labor is a resource that we shouldn't waste--so when do we say that we've got an adequate result?
Used to be a pretty clear answer.....There's never going to be a clear answer to this.
PCBCAD50The only way this could be answered is if you managed to find an auto-placing auto-routing optimising pcb layout package and I'm not sure that even exists. Normally one has to layout the components on the board and route the traces. That means the shortest traces will be defined by component positioning. I have seen auto-placement in Eagle but that was simply placing the parts I'm pretty sure there was no optimisation of placements.
You just summed up why I don't use computer aided design tools or sims: you let them "work" and then you have to verify what they did. It's like having a really stupid tech so that you give him something to do and when he's done, you have to 100% check what he's done which takes me more time than it would have taken me to do it myself. And by definition, you always have to be smarter than the computer to know when it's lying or telling you something stupid.As with any automatic device, you have to know what an autorouter will do, and you have to know how to evaluate its output. //// So if anyone says "NEVER, EVER, EVER use an autorouter!" I'm going to respond that he's exaggerating.
by Jake Hertz
by Jake Hertz
by Duane Benson