3 ms·

Really impressive. I've thought about some of this problem before but clearly I wasn't thinking large enough. The best ideas are like this - obvious once someon

Really impressive. I've thought about some of this problem before but clearly I wasn't thinking large enough. The best ideas are like this - obvious once someone else showed them to you... but still hard enough to be fun to do. Clearly you have a long path ahead of you. I am curious about several things - serious curiousity here! It seems like you have to design the circuit blocks before this thing starts its build. The LEDs require a resistor to set current, the micro requires frequency-setting resistors and numerous caps, etc. Presumably you are still reading the datasheet to do the block design. - How well do you follow manufacturer layout recommendations? For something like a switching converter, following these guidelines can be the difference between a working system and a smoke generator. - Can you tune your system to make tradeoffs against these layout guidelines? For example, the suggested layout requires an area of 1"x0.5", and you have 3/4" square available for it. Or does this require manual intervention? - Some of your example layouts have a lot of empty space. Is that due to user constraints or your process? Got to be the former. - How do you envision board revs being handled? Will the user modify the schematic, or send instructions back to you for rebuild? If the latter, is the board layout deterministic? On a board spin I wouldn't want any more changes than are required! Boy, I have a million more questions for you. This is cool. I look forward to you automating out some of the annoying parts of my job - the days and days of layout. I'm hoping you sell out to Altium so I can get this as a plugin - but I bet someone with much bigger pockets than I can afford will get you guys. Are you looking at yourselves as competing with the EDA companies or the EDM guys? Or both? Good luck!

JabavuAdams 8y ago
You're thinking small. If they execute well, and are lucky, I think they'll be eating the other companies, not selling to them.
DHaldane 8y ago
Curiosity is always good, and thanks for the compliments. Responses to your questions in order: - We follow DFM/DFX very well. It's a strength of an automated system that you can make strong guarantees on the designs that come out of the tool. A board design that cannot be manufactured is useless, and our boards are guaranteed manufacturable. - We rarely follow explicit layout guidelines, and instead determine electrical constraints and solve for a design that meets them. The switching regulator layout in the data sheet rarely fits well in any given floorplan. Better to make sure the physics are right than to encode rigid (and potentially arbitrary) constraints. - See above. We don't copy/paste - we solve for the layout that fits, subject to electrical constraints. - More of a lack of user constraints. Space makes good neighbours of electrical components, and makes testing/characterization easier. When size isn't critical, the optimal design is more spaced out. - Layout is deterministic, and board revs are pretty smooth when all you have to do is edit the source code. We're not looking for an acquisition. Luckily for you, we don't have to be acquired by Altium to write a plugin for their tool. Our competition are electrical engineers grinding out work that they don't want to be doing anyway.

JabavuAdams 8y ago

You're thinking small. If they execute well, and are lucky, I think they'll be eating the other companies, not selling to them.

DHaldane 8y ago

Curiosity is always good, and thanks for the compliments. Responses to your questions in order: - We follow DFM/DFX very well. It's a strength of an automated system that you can make strong guarantees on the designs that come out of the tool. A board design that cannot be manufactured is useless, and our boards are guaranteed manufacturable. - We rarely follow explicit layout guidelines, and instead determine electrical constraints and solve for a design that meets them. The switching regulator layout in the data sheet rarely fits well in any given floorplan. Better to make sure the physics are right than to encode rigid (and potentially arbitrary) constraints. - See above. We don't copy/paste - we solve for the layout that fits, subject to electrical constraints. - More of a lack of user constraints. Space makes good neighbours of electrical components, and makes testing/characterization easier. When size isn't critical, the optimal design is more spaced out. - Layout is deterministic, and board revs are pretty smooth when all you have to do is edit the source code. We're not looking for an acquisition. Luckily for you, we don't have to be acquired by Altium to write a plugin for their tool. Our competition are electrical engineers grinding out work that they don't want to be doing anyway.