CircuitWorks Version 5 Feature Comparison | Summary | Features

CircuitWorks Features

CircuitWorks bridges the Electrical Computer-Aided Design (ECAD) and MCAD design worlds by providing electrical and mechanical engineers with a single, intuitive tool that allows them to import and export designs from an external ECAD system.

The components can be represented at different levels of complexity, from basic shapes to detailed part models, according to the user's requirements. Basic component shapes are generated by CircuitWorks from the ECAD data. Detailed component parts can be created using SolidWorks, and added to the CircuitWorks component library for reuse with other PCB's.

DF Import

CircuitWorks will create a SolidWorks assembly from an IDF file created by an ECAD system. IDF is the defacto standard throughout the PCB design industry for the exchange of information between mechanical and electrical design. CircuitWorks allows the user to define certain filter and build options, thus only translating those areas of the file that are important to the design process at that point in time. CircuitWorks fully supports the IDF version 2 and version 3 file format. For more information on the IDF standard please visit www.intermedius.com

IDF Export

CircuitWorks allows the user to export a PCB designed in SolidWorks, to both IDF version 2 and version 3. Please click here to view the version comparison for the different file types.

PADS-ASCII PowerPCB Import

CircuitWorks allows the user to import a PCB designed in PADS PowerPCB via the PADS ASCII file format. The support for PADS is not as extensive as for IDF please click here to view the version comparison for the different file types.

Supported Data Exchange Formats

CircuitWorks currently supports the following data exchange formats:

• IDF 2.0
• IDF 3.0
• PADS-ASCII PowerPCB 1.5, 2.1, 3.0, 3.5, 5.0 and 6.0

CircuitWorks Version 5 Feature Comparison

Summary

CircuitWorks allows engineers to do the following:-

Import and Export neutral files in Intermediate Data Format (IDF).
Automatically create the board outline, including cutouts.
Add drilled holes with advanced filtering to the board outline. (IDF only)
Automatically place all or a filtered set of components on the PCB.

Bi Directional IDF Translation for SolidWorks

CircuitWorks is a fully integrated data interface between SolidWorks® 2000 - 2005 and PCB Design systems.

Running totally inside SolidWorks, CircuitWorks will read an industry-standard IDF file, and produce a SolidWorks 3D Assembly of the PCBboard fully populated with all of its components. If a library of electronic components is used, CircuitWorks will “pick and place” components onto the board to produce a very accurate model of the populated board. If a component is not available in the part library, CircuitWorks will use the component footprint and extrude it to the given height. CircuitWorks supports:

• Board Cut-outs & Mounting Holes
• Plated & Non-plated Holes
• Z-height Filtering
• Filtering by component type
• Network License Manager

CircuitWorks also gives a bi-directional capability, allowing data from SolidWorks to be exported to IDF format. The export facility allows a SolidWorks user to sketch a board outline in the context of an assembly, and export it to IDF. This is ideal when the shape and size of the board is driven by packaging constraints. Also, once a populated board has been brought into SolidWorks, components can be moved, and an IDF file written out showing the new component positions.

CircuitWorks IDF has been successfully proven with various systems including:

• Orcad
• Mentor Graphics
• Veribest
• CADENCE Allegro
• ACCEL P-CAD
• PADS-pcb