Viewed 786 times since 23rd February 2006.

Producing a 3D model of your printed circuit board at the design stage is a great idea.

The above model is a example from one of our own designs. The model can be manipulated in real time on the computer before the board has been sent to production. The huge benefit in this is that you can spot potential problems before you receive the board back and its all too late. When layouting out sometimes the Z axis or height is overlooked while the designer focuses on squeezing the components into the X and Y real estate. By producing a 3D model the heights and accesses can all be checked. Even component obscured idents can be spotted easily leading to a quick edit rather than an addition to the next revisions list.

The PCB CAD software we use allows us to generate the 3D views instantly as we layout the board. Most components are modelled but ocassionaly we may need to generate a model for a specific component, a little like making a new component foot print.

We can go one step further if you desire and model the entire enclosure, part or system you are intending building so that you may check that every part and subassembly fit together.