kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo <miguelangel@xxxxxxx>]

This is what they do at *tium :)

http://wiki.altium.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=4426668

You have an special board, which is linked to other boards, and they are
repeated in X / Y as
you wish, then you add the extra features: fiducials, holding holes, cuts,
v-scores, ...,
and dump out the gerbers.

When you change your linked boards then the "panelized" board changes.

I think that this could probably be done in scripting.



2012/6/27 Lorenzo Marcantonio <l.marcantonio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

> On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 09:47:14PM +0200, Richard wrote:
> > I tried to download and install the GerbMerg. But I was not able to
> > install it either on my Ubuntu computer nor on a Windows laptop,
> > what made me frustrated as I spent hours trying everything to get it
> > up and running.
>
> There are a lot of free panelizer around... have you tried *all* of
> them???
>
> > So I thought, it could be a realizable job to do that in GerbView.
> > Can anybody tell me if that is an idea or is that not of interest.
> > Who is responsible for GerbView. Is there something like a quick
> > start guide on what has been done up to now.
>
> I personally object to adding CAM features to a CAD program...
> panelization is *much more* than just copy and pasting the same board
> over and over (otherwise you'll just need the step and repeat gerber
> command:D). You need to add various kind of coupons (depending on the
> features required), global fiducials, tooling holes, milling/scoring
> routes and so on. Never seen an OSS tool with all the needed features...
> There is a whole CAM industry out there (I used gerbtool, CAM350 and our
> fabricator uses genesys2000, for example) and they have *a lot* of
> functions needed beside panelization...
>
> If I wanted to do such kind of tool I would do a separate executable:
> a mix of gerbv and pcbnew; the gerbv part for importing the gerbers, and
> some functions of pcbnew for tooling and so on.
>
> Alternatively we could add a new kind of object in pcbnew (a
> GerberInstance, for example) that would 'stamp' the plots on the current
> board with translation, rotation and flipping (yes, flipping is
> important! it's used both for better use space with asymmetric board and
> in some workflow with components on both sides).
>
> The use case would be like this:
> 1) Open pcbnew, new board, draw the *panel* edge on the edge layer;
> 2) Put tooling holes, global fiducials and so on (these could be also
>   kept on a 'template' panel board)
> 3) Define a GerberInstance from the board files (import layers, drill,
>   pick and place and maybe IPC356 stuff)
> 4) Place this instance as required (array, interlocking patterns, or
>   other)
> 5) Repeat step 3 and 4 as needed if you want to do a multiboard panel;
>   it happens more often than you would think (for example: main pcb,
>   control panel pcb and maybe a separate power supply)
> 6) Add coupons, texts and stuff: drawing them, appending them or as
>   GerberInstances
> 7) Plot panel gerbers and drills
> 8) Emit IPC356A file containing panelization info (OK, actually
>   I haven't finished yet the single board 356 exporter, but the format
>   requires subimage separation).
>
> Without step 8 you'll have some serious testing issue, but if you're
> using a fat board (i.e. clearances and tracks >0.2mm) maybe you could
> avoid testing altogether.
>
> The only thing missing would be fixing the board borders for scoring,
> rat bites or whichever separation method you'll want to use... sadly
> this would require a full NC editor. However most probably the
> fabricator would help with that, since he need to convert anyway the
> borders to mill cord.
>
> --
> Lorenzo Marcantonio
> Logos Srl
>
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-- 

Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo
http://www.nbee.es
+34 636 52 25 69
skype: ajoajoajo