Engineering Innovation Center

PCB II PopUp Course

2017
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Introduction to PCB II

• The Engineering Innovation Center is a large academic maker

space with plenty of tools, electronics and equipment. In order
to use these items you must have the proper training. This
online popup class will teach the basic fundamentals of this
tool or piece of equipment.
• PCB II – teaches the basic uses of the EAGLE PCB software.
The key is the right tool for the right job. This class will give
basic information on how EAGLE works, how to make a PCB
layout, and how to submit the job to the EIC.
• To complete the certification for the PCB II class you will need
to complete the online quiz.

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Downloading EAGLE

• Head to
www.Autodesk.com
• Click Sign in
• Create account
• Students have access
to EAGLE Premium for
free

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Downloading EAGLE (cont.)

• Students have a list of

software available to them
from Autodesk
• Find EAGLE in the list (red
box) and click the download
button (green oval).
• Save the program to your
computer and run the
installer

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Running EAGLE

• After installing EAGLE, run the

program
• The first time running EAGLE,
the program will give a
message saying that the
EAGLE directory hasn’t been
created yet. Go ahead and
click Yes to create it.
• After that, EAGLE’s control
panel should appear.
• Click File -> New -> Schematic

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Building a circuit

• The circuit that you’re going

to build is an inverting
integrator.

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Downloading SparkFun EAGLE Libraries

• Downloading SparkFun’s
EAGLE Library is a good
choice for beginners and
even experts since the
libraries are much easier to
understand than the ones
that EAGLE has by default.
• The libraries can be found at:
https://github.com/sparkfun
/SparkFun-Eagle-Libraries
• Download and unzip the zip
file
• Everything that SparkFun
sells should be in the
libraries, making it easy to
buy parts for your PCB board.

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Adding Libraries

• In EAGLE’s
schematic view,
click Library ->
Open Library
Manager
• In the Library
Manager, click
Browse
• In the next box,
select the folder
where the library
files are stored,
highlight all of
them and select
“Open”.
• The libraries
should now be
added.

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Adding parts to the Schematic

• On the left side of the

screen in the schematic
editor, click the “Add”
button, scroll to the
SparkFun-IC-Amplifiers
library, find the LM358 op-
amp and click OK to place
it in the schematic. Since
the LM358 is a dual op-
amp, after placing the first
symbol, click again to
place the second symbol,
and then finally click again
to place the power rail.

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Adding parts to the Schematic (cont.)

• Repeat the adding process to place

the following parts into the
schematic:
– 4x resistors (SparkFun-
resistors library, 1 kOhm –
Axial-0.3)
– 3x connectors (SparkFun-
connectors library, CONN_1,
CONN_1)
– 1x capacitor (SparkFun-
capacitors, 4.7uF, 4.7UF603)
• Use the Net button to draw
connections
• Your schematic should look like the
picture to the right

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Naming objects

• The name button is used to

give name to objects to make
the schematic less confusing
for other people to read.
• It’s also useful for naming
electrical connections so that
the schematic is less cluttered
as well.
• Let’s do this for our schematic
– Use the name button to
name the four
connections like in the
schematic to the right

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Naming Connections

• Connections, or nets, can also be

named.
• If nets have the same name, they are
considered by EAGLE to be connected
even if they’re not.
• Let’s try this for the schematic
– Name all of the connections going
to ground as GND
– A warning should pop up saying if
you want to connect the two
connections. Click yes.
• The schematic should look like the
picture to the right.
• Even though the connections that are
labeled GND are separate, because they
are named the same, EAGLE connects
them for you. This wouldn’t be necessary
for a simple circuit like this, but for more
complex and advanced circuits, it comes
in handy to prevent traces from being
drawn all over the screen.

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Board View

• Now that the

schematic is complete,
we’ll switch over to the
board view. Click the
switch board button
• EAGLE will ask if you
want to create the
board from the
schematic. Click yes.
• This takes you to the
board layout view.

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Board View (cont.)

• Click and drag the components

into the large black rectangle.
There’s no real guideline on how
parts should be placed, but as a
general rules the connection
lines should be as straight as
possible.
• When all components have been
placed, click on the outline of
the black rectangle to reduce the
size since this is your board
outline. Generally, your PCBs
should be as small as possible.
• Your schematic may look like the
sample to the right.

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Adding a ground plane (optional but strongly
recommended)

• It’s recommended that you use

the bottom of the PCB to use
as a ground plane
• To do this, use the Polygon tool
(making sure that the bottom
layer is selected) and draw a
rectangle around the board.
• When the rectangle is created,
the outline changes to a
dashed line.
• Right click the dashed line and
select Name
• For the name, put GND (or
whatever you call your ground
net)
• Click the Ratsnest button
• The rectangle should change
into a filled rectangle within
your board
• The ground plane has been
made

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Routing traces

• Routing traces can be

done manually by
clicking the trace button
• Select either top or
bottom layer and point
and click to lay traces.
• You can also use the
Autorouter tool to have
EAGLE place the traces
– If using the
autorouter, be sure
to load the design
rule file before
running the
autorouter (see next
slide).

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Design Rules

• Once routing is complete, the

next step is checking the design
for any errors
• Click the DRC button
• Click Load
• Navigate to the design rule file
that you plan on using. The EIC
has three design rule files for
Express, Standard, and
Advanced layouts. Where to find
the design rule files are shown
at the end of the Powerpoint.
• Click Check
• EAGLE then checks your board
for any errors.
• If the design rules are selected
before using the autorouter, the
autorouter will design the traces
around the design rules so no
errors should pop up.
• Fix any errors that pop up

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CAM Processing

• The next step is to

create the Gerber Files
to submit to the EIC.
• From the file menu,
click on CAM
Processor
• On the menu that pops
up, click File -> Open -
> Job and select the
EIC.cam file. The
EIC.cam file is located
in the same directory
as the design rule files.
• Click Process Job
• If no errors pop up,
your Gerber files have
been created in the
same directory as your
schematic and board
layout.

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Next Steps

• Change the drill file from a .drd file to a

.txt file
• Add the 4 Gerber files to a single zip folder
• Fill out the EIC’s Prototyping form.
• Select PCB when it asks what type of
prototyping is required.
• Upon reaching the end of the form, a link
to submit the files and a link to the design
rules/CAM file appear.
• Click on the PCB Upload directory
• Name your zip file with your last name and
the request number (1 if this is your first
submission, 2 if it’s your second, etc.)
• Upload your zip file to the google drive
folder.
• Your board is now submitted!
• Most boards take about a week to
complete, but it could take longer or
shorter depending on how busy the EIC is.

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Conclusion

• Head over to the EIC’s website to take the quiz for this class.
– A passing grade is 90% or above.

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Contact info

• For any prototyping related questions, feel free to send an email to

eic.prototyping@gmail.com
• Jim Wilson – EIC Manager
– James-Wilson@tamu.edu
• engineering.tamu.edu/eic

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 Engineering Innovation Center

2017 – Jim Wilson

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