One thing to note about PCB Prototyping is that it is different from PCB Manufacturing. PCB Prototyping is characterized by changes, while PCB Manufacturing involves mass production of the same design. Before you commission your PCB design for mass production, it is best for you to pass it through PCB Rapid Prototyping.
For your rapid prototyping to be successful, you need to be equipped with the right tools. This is because PCB Rapid Prototyping is an iterative process. It needs to be completed fast during each run and the cost need to be kept low to make the product development affordable. With PCB Design idea in mind, the PCB Design software facilitate the designer to turn the virtual idea into reality. This is where the PCB Rapid Prototyping process really begins.
At this point, you can perform the electrical rules check and see if your design is fit for fabrication. You can also perform other optimization techniques such as checking the form factor. If you are not satisfied with your design, you have the liberty to change it instantly to make it right. These changes are repeated until the design is satisfactory from the designer perspective. After this, you either have to fabricate the prototype yourself using the traditional etching methods, or you can send to the manufacturer abroad to do the job for you. Both of these options have flaws. If you opt to use the traditional methods, you’ll have exposed your design to non-standard methods of manufacturing; you may have to go back to the drawing board someday. If you opt to send your design to the normal manufacturers abroad, it may cost you much more than you anticipated for a prototype. Even if the cost is okay for you, it will certainly take a long enough time to render the whole process not Rapid PCB Prototyping!
The most preferred method for PCB Rapid Prototyping is a local fab house that is able to give you the feedback you want about your design in minutes, via their website, email or some mobile application. This includes a quote for fabrication and the time it takes to complete and ship it to your house or post box. This local fab house should also have a high level of flexibility. This make it easy to optimize designs through experimentation and change of various parameters and PCB components, until you have your first working product.
Comments
Post a Comment