Installing Eagle & Terminology

Concepts & Installations — Eagle Series — Episode #02

Published in

Jungletronics

7 min readMar 6, 2019

The installation is trivial as soon as you’ve got the right site (from www.autodesk.com), but before installing EAGLE see these terms first; it will help you to quickly apprehend the materials that follow :)

Terminology

Board — Refers to the PCB board that contains the etched routes and circuit components;

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) — mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components or electrical components using conductive tracks, pads and other features etched from one or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto and/or between sheet layers of a non-conductive substrate. Components are generally soldered onto the PCB to both electrically connect and mechanically fasten them to it;

Etching — is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types of material (https://en.wikipedia.org);

Schematic — It is a logical software representation of actual physical connections of a circuit;

Board’s Substrate — It is the base material that constitutes the PCB, i.e. it is the base over which the copper layers are present. A commonly used substrate material FR4;

Detailed Introduction from 6 Aspects (link https://www.allpcb.com/1_layer_pcb.html)

FR4 — The base material, or substrate, is usually fiberglass;

Layers — Layers are a critical component of your PCB design, allowing you to organize a ton of information without cluttering your view;

Autodesk: Every Layer in Autodesk EAGLE and What You Need to Know About Them:

Soldermask — a layer of protective material laid over the metal to prevent short circuits, corrosion, and other problems. Frequently green, although other colors (SparkFun red, Arduino blue, or Apple black) are possible. Occasionally referred to as “resist”;

Silkscreen — the letters, number, symbols, and imagery on a circuit board. Usually, only one color is available, and resolution is usually fairly low;

**Soldermask expansion (a) and silkscreen (b) (from** http://www.pcb.electrosoft-engineering.com)

Pad — a portion of exposed metal on the surface of a board to which a component is soldered;

**Tracks that interconnect 2 integrated circuits exposing its pads for chips laydown**

Plated through hole (PTH) — a hole on a board which has an annular ring and which is plated all the way through the board. Maybe a connection point for a through hole component, a via to pass a signal through, or a mounting hole;

Trace (tracks) — a continuous path of copper on a circuit board.

Via — a hole in a board used to pass a signal from one layer to another. Tented vias are covered by solder mask to protect them from being soldered to. Vias, where connectors and components are to be attached, are often untented (uncovered) so that they can be easily soldered.

**Two integrated circuits located on opposite sides of the PCB are connected using thru-hole vias**

Hole — a hole on a board which has an annular ring and which is plated all the way through the board. May be a connection point for a through hole component, a via to pass a signal through, or a mounting hole.

DRC — design rule check. A software check of your design to make sure the design does not contain errors such as traces that incorrectly touch, traces too skinny, or drill holes that are too small;

ERC — What is ERC? If this is your first time designing a schematic then the term Electrical Rule Check might be a bit new. This is a handy little tool that you’ll always want to keep in your engineering toolbox, as it helps to point out common errors in your schematic. An ERC will check for the following issues:

Are all of your nets properly connected and labeled on your schematic?
Do you have any conflicting outputs/inputs on your schematic?
Are there any open or overlapping pins and ports on your schematic?

You can think of an ERC as a second pair of eyes; it will always be there to help you find the missing details that you may have overlooked! Of course, an ERC is not meant to be a replacement for reviewing your schematic manually, so don’t rely on it as your first level of the defense;

Gerber — The most commonly used file system by PCB manufacturers for fabrication is the Gerber file system. The Gerber contains all the required manufacturing files like .art files for the PCB;

CAM — Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) — Definition — What does Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM)mean? Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is an application technology that uses computer software and machinery to facilitate and automate manufacturing processes. CAM is the successor of computer-aided engineering (CAE) and is often used in tandem with computer-aided design (CAD).

In addition to materials requirements, modern CAM systems include real-time controls and robotics.

CAM reduces waste and energy for enhanced manufacturing and production efficiency via increased production speeds, raw material consistency, and more precise tooling accuracy.

CAM uses computer-driven manufacturing processes for additional automation of management, material tracking, planning, and transportation. CAM also implements advanced productivity tools like simulation and optimization to leverage professional skills.

Depending on enterprise solution and manufacturer, CAM may present inadequacies in the following areas:

Manufacturing process and usage complexity
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and modern enterprise integration
Machine process automation

Modern CAM solutions are scalable and range from discrete systems to multi-CAD 3D integration.

CAM is often linked with CAD for more enhanced and streamlined manufacturing, efficient design and superior machinery automation

EAGLE is FREE :D Here is something you’ll need to know :)

Limited software for hobbyists and makers, includes 2 schematic sheets, 2 signal layers, and an 80cm x 100cm board area.

There are a few files that you will need to download for use this software:

Download Eagle itself. Currently, we use v4.16 (~8MB). Versions are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac;
Download the SparkFun Eagle Library. This is the collection of all the components SparkFun designs with and therefore components and footprints that have been tested. Unzip and place the SparkFun.lbr file into the Eagle\lbr directory;
Download the SparkFun Eagle keyboard shortcuts. Place this file in the Eagle\scr directory;
Download the SparkFun CAM file. (Right-click, and choose Save Link As) Place this file in the Eagle\cam directory. This file is responsible for creating the Gerber files for submission to a PCB fab house.

For this post, it’s enough! Sign in! :b

Don’t panic! in the next episode, we’re dealing with all these terms in a practical-step-by-step-learning-by-doing process:)

In the next Episode, finally, we’re gonna make our first board in Eagle.

Stay Tuned!

Bye o/

Download All Files For The Project:) EGL_00 EGL_01

Installing Eagle & Terminology

Concepts & Installations — Eagle Series — Episode #02

Terminology

EAGLE is FREE :D Here is something you’ll need to know :)

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