4 ‐ Digilent Basys3 Diagram Usage
Included in our team resources is a dynamic Basys3 diagram created in a .dwg (DRAWING) file format. Browsing the internet, we never found a 2D vector render of the Basys3 board. The only available resources are top-down photos of the board, so we created our own interactable vector file in AutoCAD. Feel free to use this file in your class presentations or in any other visuals that you create. If you want a short and simple solution, just use the image below in your visuals. If you decide to read this page, then at the end you will know how to modify the diagram to change the states of objects on the Basys Board like the LEDs and switches.
As Autodesk software is the preferred CAD solution for this project, this file is best viewed in AutoCAD (but any program that can view .dwg files is also acceptable). AutoCAD is available for free under a student license and will be used in this breakdown. The product is the best solution that I have come across for drafting 2D engineering drawings, which is why the Architecture and Civil Engineering communities favor the program. The diagram was actually created in Civil3D, a civil engineering version of AutoCAD. It does not matter which version of AutoCAD you use to view the file, but I use Civil3D professionally so that is what will be pictured in the following screenshots.
Found on the Basys 3 reference page by Digilent, a .dxf CAD file is given for the mechanical dimensions of the board itself. Shown above in magenta coloring is that mechanical drawing. It was used as a reference to create the diagram. This means that the drawing itself (drawn in mm) is dimensionally accurate and all positions of the components are placed to the specifications of the board manufacturer. This probably means nothing for you other than you could use the drawing as a reference for the mounting holes of the board or for the PMOD connector dimensions. We used that mechanical DXF in Fusion 360 to mount the Basys board to the side of our Nautilus rover.
The main elements of this diagram are the dual-setting toggle switches, color dropdown LEDs, hexadecimal dropdown 7-Segment display, and the layer manager which can be used to modify the diagram colors. These elements are interactive and can be set before exporting to .pdf or .png format from AutoCAD. We will discuss each in detail here and cover how you can use this file to generate images and PDFs for your reports and presentations.
The tab/sheet titled "Layout1" is the page that you will print to PDF from and has the mechanical drawing hidden from view.
The toggle switches on the Basys3 are used for both debugging the board and one is used for power cycling the board. By clicking on these objects in AutoCAD, you can set their state to "ON" or "OFF"
Similarly to the toggle switches, these LEDs have dropdowns for selecting their color or "OFF." More states/colors can be added through the block manager.
With 16 options for hexadecimal characters, the 4 digits of the 7-segment display can be controlled via drop-down. The Block Editor can be used to add more options to the digits if necessary.
As for the position of the decimal, simply click on the circle and place where you wish. The following link should give an explanation on how to snap to objects in AutoCAD, otherwise look up "Object Snaps AutoCAD" to snap to the center of the circle like pictured here. Do not be scared of the AutoCAD features, they are very simple to learn and AutoCAD is a super handy tool for drafting engineering drawings that are 2D!
If you wish to extend the functionality of this diagram, the AutoCAD block editor is used to modify the properties of the features discussed here. This goes out of the scope of this tutorial, but is a useful skill if you want to use AutoCAD for additional projects. The blocks are given properties using visibility states and here is a video on them. You can opt to skip out on the dynamic block function of AutoCAD and run "XPLODE" on any of the block objects to convert them back to simple ACAD objects like lines and hatches.
Any of the colors of the model can be modified using the "Layer Manager". You can create additional layers similar to Adobe Photoshop or any other layer-based program. Select an object in model space and run "DR" to control the draw order of the object. Here is an example of changing the PCB color to an obnoxious shade of lime green:
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