The Circuit Design Blog

In this tutorial we will demonstrate the PCB design for the circuit we prepared in our previous video:  Creating two-sided PCBs in TINA, part 1: Preparing Schematics for PCB Design

1) Placement of components

Start TINA and open the circuit prepared in the previous video

The circuit is also available in the latest version of TINA as ADC.TSC in the Examples\PCB\ADC folder

Click the PCB Design icon

The PCB Design dialog appears

Note that the Autoplacement checkbox is set

Press the OK button

The PCB designer appears with automatically placed parts on the board.

However the automatic placement is never perfect.

Let’s reposition the parts according to our requirements.

Click the Select/Move components/tracks button

then click on U1 and drag aside

Next select the Connectors

As they turn white, rotate them clockwise

Drag them close to the edge of the board

Now position the remaining parts according to this picture.

Note that some of the parts should be rotated.

Finally, change the size of the board

Click the Board outline button,

then click on the workspace by holding down the Right-mouse button

Select Cancel

Next double-click on the workspace

In the Shape properties window

Change the Rectangle height into 1500 mil

then click OK

2. Preparation for routing

Now, we check the design parameters before routing

Click Options

System settings

The units are in mils which were defined in TINA Schematic Editor View/Options

Click OK to close the System settings window

Click Options

Layer settings

We design double-sided board with components on the top.
Copper routing will be applied on top and bottom sides too.

Close the Layer editor Window

Next, click Options

Autorouter settings

We will use both manual and automatic routing, for our circuit.

Here we can give direction preferences on a scale of 1 to 9 for autorouting. Leave them now default.
Close the Autorouter settings window

Next, click Options

Design parameters

Now, set ‘Pad to pad’ value to 6

This assures that our SON12_3x3_0.5_TP (U2 ) package will not violate the design rules

Click OK

3. Routing the design

The PCB Editor offers several modes to assist manual and automatic routing

Click the Mode 2 icon button on the toolbar,

then click to the connection points at the ends of the rubber line

Manual routing is practical for small boards, but now we shall use the autorouter

Click Tools

Autoroute board

After the autorouting we connect manually the unconnected nets then revise connections and cleanup design

Filling both sides with copper pour we will create a ground plane and reduce the amount of etching liquid

Click the Copper pour area icon,

then by holding down the left-mouse button select the area you want to fill

Release the selection by clicking the left-mouse button at the end point

We can assign the GND net to pour areas

Click the Copper pour area icon, then click anywhere on the workspace and select Cancel

Next double-click the copper shape and

in the Assigned net field of the Shape properties window select GND

then click OK

To avoid the board edge, we set ‘Board to copper pour’ to 40 mils
Click Options

Design parameters

Enter 40 in the Board to copper pour field,

then click OK

4. Final touches: texts and 3D view

Now we arrange component name texts on silkscreen and add some additional ones to identify the pins of the connectors

We will move U1 label which belongs to the Silkscreen Layer

Select Silscreen Top layer

Next, click the Select/Move components/tracks button

Click the U1 label, then drag it to the right place

You can rotate it while it is selected by using the Rotate right/Rotate left icon

Finally let’s see and test our design in a lifelike photo-realistic 3D view.

To generate the 3D model press the 3D View button on the toolbar

The lifelike 3D model of the circuit appears.

You can rotate the model by holding down the left-mouse button while moving the mouse or using the arrows on the keyboard.

You can Zoom In or Zoom Out by holding down the right-mouse button while moving the mouse

5. Design rule check (DRC) and making layer images

DRC process is very important step at the end of the design before we generate data files to the PCB manufacturer

Click Tools

DRC

Run DRC

As there is no error message, just click OK

If there is no DRC message then it is time to have our board made.
Typically this means creating gerber format files for a professional manufacturer

Click File

Export gerber file

Click Save

It is also very important to check gerber files once the design is completed.
Note that many free viewers are available like ViewMate, GC-Prevue…

6. Live 3D View

Let’s run Transient Analysis with 3D view

Press the TR button to run Transient Analysis

You can change the Voltage input

Double-click the Vin and enter 1.8 in the Voltage field of the Vin-Voltage Source window, then click OK

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You can also find below the script of the video:

Creating two-sided PCBs in TINA, part 1

Preparing Schematics for PCB Design

In this video we will present how to check and set the mapping between TINA’s Schematic Symbols and the Footprints used in TINA’s Integrated PCB Designer

Note: See also our previous video: Using the Footprint Editor in TINA, part 2: Setting and checking footprint names

Here is the circuit we will use

Note: We have already presented how to set the footprints of U2 in our previous video.

Start TINA

The most important thing in PCB design is that every part in your schematic must have a physical representation with exact physical size.

This is accomplished through so called footprints-drawings showing the outline and the pins of the parts.

In TINA, we have already assigned default footprint names to all parts which represent real components.

To check the footprints you can double-click on each part and check the Footprint Name of the Component Property dialog.

Double-click the R1

Click the … button in the Footprint Name line

and see the “PCB information” dialog where you can select from the available footprint names.

You can also see the 3D view of the different parts via the 3D package view field of the dialog.

Of course, there is no guarantee that the default physical representatives of the parts are the same as those needed by your design.

Now, we will use SMT Footprint

Select the R1608_0603 Footprint, then click OK

Click OK again

Alternatively you can use TINA’s “Footprint Name Editor” which you can invoke from the Tools menu

Select Tools

Footprint Name Editor

In this dialog you can see all of TINA’s components & the corresponding footprint names

To locate a part click the label then the Locate button

AIN+ and some parts (controlled sources,…) used for theoretical investigations do not represent real physical parts so you cannot place them on a PCB.

Clicking on the footprint name fields, you can select from the available footprint names.

From the Footprint name list select

C1608_0603 for C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6

In the dialog, components that do not already have a footprint name association will be denoted by red characters and also by ??? in the footprint name field.

Next, in the U4 Footprint Name field click the ??? then the …

As we already have a footprint for U4 in TINA Package Database

Select the TINA library

Check in the All box

and select the LCD16X1 footprint from the list

then click OK

Finally select the JP100 footprint for VCC, Vin, VDD, OVD, REF

Click OK to close the Footprint Name Editor

Now the PCB footprints are associated with the parts.

If you open the TINA PCB Designer the PCB Footprints of the parts will appear

Open the TINA PCB Designer

Set the parameters as shown next

Check the Autoplacement option

Let’s adjust the board dimensions.

Enter 4.5 for the Board width and

2.3 for the board height

Click OK

The PCB footprints of the parts appear.

The parts are automatically placed on the board and connected with “rubber lines”.

Our task is now to move the parts into their final positions and instead of the rubber lines connect them with non-intersecting tracks on the two sides of the board.

We will show how to do this in our next video.