What did you personally accomplish this week on the project?
This week I successfully completed the PCB layout and routing in Altium, marking a major milestone in our hardware development. The layout process required careful consideration of signal integrity, power distribution, and thermal management. I positioned all components according to the placement strategy I outlined last week, with the power management section located near the input connector and the NMOS switching transistors arranged to minimize trace inductance.
The routing phase consumed significant time as I optimized trace widths for the high-current paths (using 100mil traces for the main power lines) while keeping signal traces appropriately sized. I implemented a solid ground plane on the bottom layer to provide a low-impedance return path and better thermal dissipation for the switching components.
I ran comprehensive Design Rule Checks (DRC) and addressed all violations. The initial DRC flagged 23 violations – primarily clearance issues around the dense power management IC area and a few trace width violations on high-current paths. After iterating on the layout, I resolved all critical errors and reduced the warnings to just 2 minor clearance notices that are within acceptable tolerances.
I generated the complete manufacturing file package including Gerbers (all copper layers, silkscreen, soldermask), NC drill files, and pick-and-place files for the assembly house. I also created a detailed assembly drawing that clearly marks which components will be machine-assembled versus hand-soldered.
The hybrid assembly plan is now finalized – the fab house will handle all SMD components (approximately 85 parts) while I’ll manually assemble the 12 through-hole connectors and mounting hardware. I’ve coordinated with our chosen fabrication house to confirm their capabilities and received confirmation that they can meet our timeline. I also placed orders for the through-hole components I’ll be assembling manually.
Finally, I prepared the fabrication submission package and reviewed it thoroughly with Apollo to ensure the board interfaces correctly with the software/firmware requirements.
Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?
My progress is on schedule. All planned deliverables for this week were completed, and the PCB design is ready for fabrication submission. The DRC resolution took slightly longer than anticipated, but I absorbed that time without impacting the overall schedule.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
Next week I plan to:
- Submit the PCB fabrication order and confirm the manufacturing timeline with the fab house, there was an issue getting things set in to buy.
- Order all remaining components that haven’t been procured yet, particularly any long-lead-time items
- Create a detailed assembly procedure document for the manual assembly tasks
- Begin developing the testing and bring-up plan for when the boards arrive
- Coordinate with the team on enclosure/mechanical integration to ensure the PCB mounting points align with our mechanical design
- Start preliminary work on the firmware integration requirements to ensure a smooth bring-up process when hardware arrives