PCB Review and Release Process
- Zachary Perry
- Matthew McCauley
Introduction
This is a guide for the NER PCB project lifecycle; walking through the overall process of how PCB projects are created, reviewed, released, and submitted for manufacture.
This guide assumes that you have Altium installed and you are logged into the NER vault. To learn more about Altium and how to design PCBs, see Altium Designer.
Initial Design Review
For all PCBs, the surrounding system and the PCB requirements must be reviewed before design can begin. This keeps PCB design work from being wasted due to external conflicts.
This review must include:
Item | Description |
|---|---|
System | What do we need out of this board? What is the required functionality? |
Electrical | How does this board interface with other circuits? What inputs and outputs are needed? What connectors do we expect to use? |
Mechanical | What is the board footprint? How is it mounted? What environmental protection is needed? What does the enclosure look like? |
These items can’t all be fully fleshed out before design starts, but all should be considered.
Creating a Project
To create a PCB, select File > New > Project. In the create project menu, select NER Standard Project under the PCB tab. Give your project a Name and Description. Click Create.
In the explore menu, drag your project into the relevant Car and System folder. From here you can start designing your PCB Schematic! See Altium Designer to learn more and make sure you’re following all NER procedures.
Schematic Review
Release
In order to release a PCB to be manufactured the following must have been completed:
Schematic and PCB Reviews
Ensure that all questions have been responded to and all tasks are completed
Component Review
Check the project .BomDoc file, ensure that all components are in the “Reviewed” state
Generate a Release Conflunce Page
Create a new page within your project using the PCB Release page template
B. Generating a Revision
C. Reviewing the Revision
D. Uploading Files to Manufacturer