Changes That Have Been Introduced In PCB Software

When it comes to design software – there have been so many innovative changes to this in recent years.  Some of these have been as the direct result of the voice of the customer and others have been the industry keeping up to speed with technology and changes in the industry. If you look at the recent changes in this field, they have been things that seem so simple but have made massive impacts to the users.  We continue to see some really impressive changes in this industry and can only look forward to seeing what more is in the pipeline in the coming years.

Error Proofing Techniques

When a designer has completed their piece of work even using the best professional PCB design software, they can sometimes make mistakes.  Everyone is human and it doesn’t take a lot for people to be distracted.  If you look at the 12 Human Factors sayings, this includes things such as pressure to get the job done, complacency and distractions – these all fit in with how a designer can get it wrong.  As a result, it is really key that there are some elements of error proofing put in place in order for the designers to put his mind at ease and be assured that the PCB that they have designed is fit for purpose and is actually going to work.

That is why you will find that on the recent CAD technology for this, there is a really in-depth simulation run that can be completed in order to see if the component works.  Not only can this be done on an individual sub-assembly but can be completed on the overall assembly of units.  This simulation run is not 100% foolproof; however, it does give a really good indication as to what to expect.  It is highly recommended that before sending the component off to be manufactured this error proofing technique is run to give as best an indication as possible that it will work and is fit for purpose.

Library Extension

It wasn’t that long ago that when people designed a list of items, they had to then store this on things such as hard drives as the local spaces were not significant enough in order to do this.  This brought around its own risks which included things such as potentially transferring or catching viruses on your computer but also the risk that you lose the hard drive and all the good work that went along with it.   This is something that was a massive bugbear in the industry.  Nowadays, with modern PCB technology, this is not a worry and these days are in the past.  With the capability to use either large networks that are protected in order to store and access you or your colleagues (as long as this access was agreed), this has been a massive plus in the industry. 

DesIt is expected that there will be even more changes as time goes on.