25 Oct
2018
25 Oct
'18
9:18 a.m.
On Oct 25, 2018, at 9:02 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On 10/25/2018 12:44 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
I?m wondering if a ?bed of nails? could be built that would allow for automated scanning
of the traces to at least get the netlist. I do know that PCB fab houses use either a
?bed of nails? or a flying probe to validate the construction of the boards. Now that I
think about it, a flying probe may be easier for us hobbyists to construct. The trick
will be getting sufficient x/y resolution and not having the two probes interfere when the
two probes are close to each other.
TTFN - Guy
On 10/24/18 8:06 PM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
Well, not totally automatic, but many EDA systems have "back
annotation", where changes to the PCB are taken back to the schematic. This is
generally used to allow easy reassignment of the identical sections in multi-gate
packages, but at least some of them can do MUCH more. I know Protel 99 essentially turns
the whole board into a spreadsheet, where everything is available for reassignment. I
suspect that if you laid out all the chips and then provided the interconnect info, it
would create a VERY messy schematic, which you could then reorganize by hand. You could
also make a PCB design, draw in the wiring, and it would then be able to make a netlist
and take that back to the schematic.
Hmmm, you COULD actually use a schematic tool to
do this! Maybe create
the components to look like DIPs. I know I could do this in Protel 99
without a great deal of trouble. Then, just draw in all the wires.
I suspect a few other good schematic entry tools could also do this.
I know that
I've asked about this on one of the EDA boards and got
nowhere. It seems that it would be possible to construct a schematic
from a netlist, but I've never seen such a tool.
I wonder if such a beast exists.