CircuitWorks PCB Design Software for SolidWorks

CircuitWorks is a fully integrated data interface between SolidWorks and PCB Design systems. Running totally inside SolidWorks, CircuitWorks will read an industry-standard IDF file, and produce a SolidWorks 3D Assembly of the PCB board 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

CircuitWorks also gives a bi-directional capability, allowing data from SolidWorks to be exported out 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

There is also a direct reader available for PADS-pcb, and a Zuken-Redac Cadstar to IDF translator, both of which are available at additional cost.