Drawing arbitrary polylines in PCB CAM sofware.

[Lord Labakudas]

Hi,

I have a set of about 100 points in the X-Y plane that represents a
printed antenna (a vivaldi exponential antenna to be specific). I wish
to automatically import these points as a 2D polygon into a PCB design
sofware so that I can generate the required Gerber files for PCB
manufacturing. Which is the best method and sofware to do this ? We
currently have Protel DXP and Circuit CAM 4.0 but both of them do not
have any features to import points from a file to generate a polygon.

I tried to use macros in Protel DXP, but there seem to be no features
that I could find to record and playback macros. Is there any other
way to get this done (i.e., generate gerber files from the polygon
points).

Please help !

Thanks in Advance,
Vijay.

 

[Roy Battell]

In article <d632d29f.0405271304.634bbac4@posting.google.com>, Lord
Labakudas <llabakudas@yahoo.com> writes

Hi,

I have a set of about 100 points in the X-Y plane that represents a
printed antenna (a vivaldi exponential antenna to be specific). I wish
to automatically import these points as a 2D polygon into a PCB design
sofware so that I can generate the required Gerber files for PCB
manufacturing. Which is the best method and sofware to do this ? We
currently have Protel DXP and Circuit CAM 4.0 but both of them do not
have any features to import points from a file to generate a polygon.

I tried to use macros in Protel DXP, but there seem to be no features
that I could find to record and playback macros. Is there any other
way to get this done (i.e., generate gerber files from the polygon
points).

Please help !

Thanks in Advance,
Vijay.

To do this with Vutrax use your favourite text editor (or the
one in Vutrax) to global edit your coordinate list into a
file (say) DRAWPOLY.DEX of the form:-

g 20.0 20.0 ;; f
g 51.75 20.0 ;; c
g 51.75 41.59 ;; c
g 31.43 41.59 ;; c
g 31.43 30.16 ;; c
g 40.32 30.16 ;; c

multiple spaces are for alignment clarity only
g = goto coordinate. If you include a '.' mm are assumed
For integers 0.001 inch units is assumed
f = first - start new polygon
c = create next point - draw to

Start a drawing, select metric (if that is what your coordinates
are in so you can easily check it) and execute the .DEX file from
(Options > Macros > Run Macro) .

The resulting outline has the default width and layer but you can
more easily change these interactively than from a command file.
You will need to go through at least the start of the tutorial
to get to know your way around.

The 256 component pin free issue Vutrax will easily manage this
job, including Gerber output, and is available for Windows and
Linux at either of
http://www.vutrax.co.uk (Main UK site)
http://www.protonique.com/vutrax (Central Europe Mirror)
--
Roy Battell.
To use this address remove the digits included to remove Spam ...
Mail: news@vutrax666.co.uk

 

[Leon Heller]

"Lord Labakudas" <llabakudas@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:d632d29f.0405271304.634bbac4@posting.google.com...

Hi,

I have a set of about 100 points in the X-Y plane that represents a
printed antenna (a vivaldi exponential antenna to be specific). I wish
to automatically import these points as a 2D polygon into a PCB design
sofware so that I can generate the required Gerber files for PCB
manufacturing. Which is the best method and sofware to do this ? We
currently have Protel DXP and Circuit CAM 4.0 but both of them do not
have any features to import points from a file to generate a polygon.

I tried to use macros in Protel DXP, but there seem to be no features
that I could find to record and playback macros. Is there any other
way to get this done (i.e., generate gerber files from the polygon
points).

In theory, you could create the Gerber file from scratch, perhaps with the
aid of a Python or PERL script. The Pulsonix software I use can import a DXF
file; it might be easier to create the pattern in a standard dwg program,
perhaps using AutoLISP in AutoCAD.

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

 

[maxfoo]

On 27 May 2004 14:04:44 -0700, llabakudas@yahoo.com (Lord Labakudas) wrote:

Hi,

I have a set of about 100 points in the X-Y plane that represents a
printed antenna (a vivaldi exponential antenna to be specific). I wish
to automatically import these points as a 2D polygon into a PCB design
sofware so that I can generate the required Gerber files for PCB
manufacturing. Which is the best method and sofware to do this ? We
currently have Protel DXP and Circuit CAM 4.0 but both of them do not
have any features to import points from a file to generate a polygon.

I tried to use macros in Protel DXP, but there seem to be no features
that I could find to record and playback macros. Is there any other
way to get this done (i.e., generate gerber files from the polygon
points).

Please help !

Thanks in Advance,
Vijay.

Design your antenna using Maxwell SV.
Ansoft's Maxwell SV software has DXF/DWG File Import
DXF files are compatible with a lot of cad packages.

http://www.ansoft.com/maxwellsv/capabilities.cfm







Remove "HeadFromButt", before replying by email.

 

[Lord Labakudas]

Thanks everyone for the valuble suggestions. I finally found a
solution using Protel 2004. They have a new scripting system that
allows us to generate not only polygons, but also vias, routing lines
etc., by using Pascal scripts.

-Vijay.

maxfoo <maxfooHeadFromButt@punkass.com> wrote in message news:<uknfb0haptemidqnd7b8kifkrd61e43232@4ax.com>...

On 27 May 2004 14:04:44 -0700, llabakudas@yahoo.com (Lord Labakudas) wrote:

Hi,

I have a set of about 100 points in the X-Y plane that represents a
printed antenna (a vivaldi exponential antenna to be specific). I wish
to automatically import these points as a 2D polygon into a PCB design
sofware so that I can generate the required Gerber files for PCB
manufacturing. Which is the best method and sofware to do this ? We
currently have Protel DXP and Circuit CAM 4.0 but both of them do not
have any features to import points from a file to generate a polygon.

I tried to use macros in Protel DXP, but there seem to be no features
that I could find to record and playback macros. Is there any other
way to get this done (i.e., generate gerber files from the polygon
points).

Please help !

Thanks in Advance,
Vijay.

Design your antenna using Maxwell SV.
Ansoft's Maxwell SV software has DXF/DWG File Import
DXF files are compatible with a lot of cad packages.

http://www.ansoft.com/maxwellsv/capabilities.cfm







Remove "HeadFromButt", before replying by email.