ESYS 51

Wk-6 Lab Activity Part - 2

Student Guide

Wk-6 Atari Punk Console PC Board Assembly& Layout

Student Name: ___________________________________________________

Overview
In this lab activity you will export the Equipment & Supplies
component footprints and netlist of the Item Des Qty
“Atari Punk Console” from Multisim into PC with Multisim and
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Ultiboard, then create a single-sided PC Ultiboard 13 or above
board layout.
Special Safety Requirements
Before Starting This Activity  None.
You must complete the Atari Punk Console
Multisim Schematic and Simulation lab Lab Preparation
activity prior to starting this activity. Verify that you have a USB drive or email
account to save your work.
Learning Outcomes For Activity

Relevant knowledge (K), skill (S), or

attitude (A) student learning outcomes
K1. Identify physical and virtual
components on the Multisim
schematic.
K2. Translate nodes from schematic
drawings to physical connections on a
printed circuit board.
S1. Position components on an Ultiboard
PC board design and use auto-routing
to create a 2-layer board layout.
Task #1 – Export your schematic
1. Open your Multisim APC schematic file.
Verify that your connections and the
footprint designation for each physical
component (the blue components) match
the specifications in the APC Schematic
project.
2. From the menu bar, select Transfer >>
Transfer to Ultiboard >> Transfer to
Ultiboard 13.0

S2. Use manual trace routing to create a

single-layer board layout.

A1. Appreciate the capabilities of software

tools for printed circuit board design.

Getting Started
Lab Activity and Deliverables:
It should take students approximately 2
hours to complete the lab activity.

Wk-6 APC PC Board Assembly & Layout © 2020 ESYS 51 1


3. You may see a warning message that
some components do not have a
footprint. This is because we used virtual
components for the battery, speaker, o-
scope. Click OK to proceed.
4. Ultiboard will launch and display a list
of the nets and components imported for
the design. Click OK.
Task #2 – Resize the PC board
outline and place components
1. In the Design Toolbox, double click on
the Board Outline layer to select it.
2. Double-click on the yellow board outline
to select it and open the properties
dialog. Change the rectangle width to
2000 and the height to 3000. The default
units are in mils, so this results in a 2x3
inch board.
3. In the toolbar, de-select all of the
selection enable buttons EXCEPT the
Enable Component Selection button
Wk-6 APC PC Board Assembly & Layout © 2020 ESYS 51
ESYS 51
Wk-6 Lab Activity Part - 2
Student Guide
4. Click and drag each of the components
inside the board outline area. Try to
maintain space
between each
component. This
will make the
next steps
easier. Notice
the lines
connecting the
component
terminals. These
lines are called
the “Ratsnest”
because they show the shortest path to
connect all the nodes, regardless of
neatness or crossing paths.
5. Rearrange the placement of the
components to try to make the ratsnest
layout somewhat neater. It may help to
arrange the components similar to the
perfboard layout. You can rotate
components with the Ctrl-R command.
Task #3 – Use 2-Layer Autorouting
1. In the menu bar, select Autoroute >
Start/resume autorouter.
2. When the autorouter finishes, check the
results in the spreadsheet window at the
bottom of the window. If the autorouter
was successful, it will show 100%
completion. All of the ratsnest
connections will have been replaced by
copper traces on the top (green) layer
and bottom (red) layer.
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 ESYS 51
Wk-6 Lab Activity Part - 2
Student Guide

3. If your result is less than 100%, examine

the layout and see where ratsnest
connections were not replaced by copper
traces. Then, remove the copper traces
with the Edit > Copper delete > All
copper command.

Rearrange the components and run the

autorouter again.

Task #4 – Manually route a single-

layer board with Follow-me routing
1. Erase the copper traces from the
autorouter.
2. On the toolbar, disable the selection of
components, and then enable selection of
traces.

3. Double-click on the Copper Bottom

PCB layer to select it.

4. Select the Follow-me tool.

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 ESYS 51
Wk-6 Lab Activity Part - 2
Student Guide

5. Move the cursor over the component

 Check your
terminal pads. Note that a white X
progress by selecting Design >
appears over the pads when the cursor is
Connectivity check…, and click OK
over the pad. Click on one of the pads.
to check all nets. Click on the
Results tab in the Spreadsheet pane.
6. Note that all
When all traces are complete, there
of the pads
will be 0 errors.
that are in
the same
node now
have a white
X on them.
Move the cursor to the nearest X and
watch the ratsnest be replaced with a
copper trace. Click on the X to place the
trace. 2. It is common to “paint yourself into a
7. Move the cursor to the next trace. Click corner,” where you unable to route a
the X to continue placing traces. Press trace because the path is blocked by a
the ESC key to stop the Follow-me trace you have already placed. Some
mode. solutions for this:
 Delete and re-route a trace.
Task #5 – Continue to route you Remember that you can route traces
traces between pads on components.
1. Continue to place traces to complete the
layout for the PC board. Some tips to
help you complete the task:
 Click anywhere on the board to
“lock” the path of the trace between
nodes.
 Switch from Follow-me mode to
normal selection mode. Click on an
existing trace to select,
then move or delete the
trace.
 Move and/or rotate components to
simplify the paths. You
will need to enable part
selection in the toolbar

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 ESYS 51
Wk-6 Lab Activity Part - 2
Student Guide

Task #6 – Finish, check, and

submit your work
1. Once your Connectivity Check shows 0
errors, click on the DRC (Design Rule
Check) to check for any errors. The
Follow-me routing will normally prevent
you from placing any trace that violates
the design rules, but it is possible to
create errors when you move or rotate a
component after a trace has been
connected to a
component
pad. Any
errors will
show up as a
red circle on
the layout.
2. After your layout has no connectivity or
DRC errors, save your file and submit it
through the CANVAS assignment link.

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