This package contains all libraries, user scripts, CAM files, etc. which are used in the design and production of Monowave Labs circuit boards.
Using your preferred Git application, clone git://github.com/xdissent/monowave-eagle.git. If you plan on running the SPICE examples, you may need to update the paths in Projects/SPICE Examples/eagle.epf or make sure your clone of the repository is located at /C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/monowave-eagle. Mac users (of which I am one) are out of luck here and will almost definitely have to update eagle.epf. Note that Eagle does some funky file name handling and different path separators might be required for different platforms. It looks like the forward slash is pretty much universally compatible though.
To use this package, simply add the appropriate paths to your Eagle directory options (Options -> Directories). Most of the time your options will look like the following:
| Libraries | $HOME/monowave-eagle/Libraries |
| Design Rules | $HOME/monowave-eagle/Design Rules |
| User Language Programs | $HOME/monowave-eagle/User Language Programs |
| Scripts | $EAGLEDIR/scr |
| CAM Jobs | $HOME/monowave-eagle/CAM Jobs |
| Projects | $HOME/monowave-eagle/Projects |
Complete, standardized Eagle libraries are hard to come by. We created our own from scratch to eliminate all the guesswork involved with using the default Eagle libraries. In addition to providing a consistency that helps us sleep better at night, these libraries contain devices compatible with other parts of this package, like SPICE simulation and the (forthcoming) BOM manager.
The Library Browser User Language Program will generate a pretty slick HTML site containing all the devices, packages, and symbols in the currently used Eagle libraries. It renders XHTML 1.0 Strict compliant markup, and uses JQuery and JQuery UI to spruce things up. A current version displaying all of the Monowave libraries is always available at http://xdissent.github.com/monowave-eagle/libraries/
A User Language Program exists, Eagle to Spice, which allows you to generate a SPICE compatible circuit. Most devices in the Monowave libraries already contain SPICE data for circuit simulation, and special devices are provided that aid in manipulating and plotting simulation data. A few circuit examples are available in the Projects/SPICE Examples directory. Check the comments in the Eagle to Spice.ulp file for more information on creating your own SPICE compatible Eagle parts.
If at all possible, you should follow the following guidelines when working with the libraries and tools in this package:
- Symbols use a 0.1 inch grid.
- Pins for non-polarized devices are named 1 and 2 (3, 4 etc).
- Pins for polarized 2 terminal devices are named + and -.
- Pins for bipolar transistors are named C, B and E.
- Pins for potentiometers are named 1, 2 and 3 with 3 indicating "clockwise" and 2 is "counterclockwise".
- Pins for operational amplifiers are named IN-, IN+, OUT, VCC, and VDD
- Pins for multi-ganged potentiometers are named X1, X2 and X3 where X is the gate name. Example: A2.
- Pins for supply symbols are named for the common supply net they represent. For example, the VCC symbol will always represent the VCC supply.
- Package pads fall on a 0.1 inch grid where possible.
- Package holes use metric units. Preferred hole sizes:
- 0.7 mm
- 0.9 mm
- 1.1 mm
- 1.3 mm
- Packages are centered about the origin except when pads won't fall on the 0.1 inch grid.
Each package has a visible name with the following properties:
Layer tNames Size 0.006 in. Font Vector Ratio 8% Value >NAME Each package has a visible value with the following properties:
Layer tValues Size 0.004 in. Font Vector Ratio 8% Value >VALUE - The package name appears above the component, left justified.
- The package value appears inside the component where possible, or at the bottom, left justified.
- All package outlines are 8 mil wide.
- Gates are named A and B (C, D etc).
- Single gate devices are named A.
- Supply gates are named SUP.
- Supply devices may include only supply symbols with a single supply pin named for the device itself.
- SPICE data is defined on a device if possible.
- Schematics use a 0.1 inch grid.
- Multiple sheets should be used to separate logical blocks.
- Each sheet should contain a LETTER frame with all information filled out. Changing the value will control the sheet's title.
- The 0 device represents true ground. Any other ground symbol must be connected to an instance of this device to be considered ground. For example, a DGND device may represent all digital ground points in a circuit, and could be tied to true ground through some kind of filtering network.
Each supply voltage should use a different symbol, as follows:
VAA Large, unregulated/unfiltered positive supply. VBB Large, regulated/filtered positive supply. VCC General regulated/filtered positive supply. VDD Misc supply. VEE General regulated/filtered negative supply. VFF Large regulated/filtered negative supply. VGG Large unregulated/unfiltered positive supply. VHH - VZZ Misc supply.
- Boards use a 0.1 inch grid.
- Traces use a 45 degree bend. Avoid 90 degree bends where possible.
- Run the DRC with Monowave.dru to check trace widths and clearances.
A lot of thought was put into coming up with standard measurement grids for use in the Monowave libraries. Initially, every pad and hole was laid out on a metric grid with 1mm spacing. We really wanted to go full-on metric to stand aside our more progressive world citizens and make it easier to interact with foreign board houses and manufacturers who primarily are tooled to operate in metric units. Unfortunately there were a few obstacles which led to our abandonment of this grandiose ideal for a 0.1 inch grid.
Firstly, the schematic editor uses a 0.1 inch grid. That means every pin on each symbol also has to land on a 0.1 inch grid or you won't be able to connect any nets to pins. Eagle is pretty stubborn about this detail and chances are EVERY library or schematic you get from any other Eagle user will use a 0.1 inch grid, so it's practically impossible to get around imperial here. That means half of the Eagle experience is already out of the question for metric. It's not the fact the board and schematic grids have to agree, but that they wouldn't - that's the first strike against the use of metric in product design.
History, unfortunately, is also not on metric's side of the debate either it seems. Since the ridiculous majority of early semiconductors were designed right here in the good old USA, the footprint standards that arose happened to make heavy use of imperial grids. Most designs will use a least a DIP or two, which automatically ties you to a 0.1 inch grid lead spacing. So we've got a decades old invisible hand pushing us further back towards imperial.
Of course, most actual devices are manufactured in a metric friendly country regardless of the origins of their design. That means the overwhelming majority of parts will have data sheets using metric units. Every measurement would have to be converted to metric before placing a pad if the grid was set to imperial. And with more and more manufacturers converting to metric, the problem is only going to get worse.
The good news is conversion is simple in Eagle, because you can freely change the grid back and forth from imperial to metric without altering the pad placement. Regardless of the chosen standard grid, as long as the part is centered, it won't mess things up. Things only get confusing if you are editing parts that use different internal grids.
Since a lot of designs are prototyped on a breadboard, it makes sense to go with a grid that translates well to an actual PCB design. Breadboards all use a 0.1 inch grid to accommodate DIPs, so laying out a board on the same grid is like second nature.
It's obvious that any choice is a compromise in this situation, but the benefits of using an imperial grid outweigh the warm fuzzy feeling we'd get by using metric. In the future it might make sense to switch, and we'd love to. But for now the rule of thumb is to use a 0.1 inch grid in every situation. We apologize to the rest of the industrialized world for succumbing to im*peer*ial pressure...
The Monowave Labs support files will eventually (and hopefully) include:
- SPICE enabled test point devices which can simulate ammeters, voltmeters and power meters in SPICE. Each test point will create a pad on the board layout for easy testing of the actual circuit.
- Keyboard shortcuts for Eagle commands. MOVE, GRID mm, GRID inch and GROUP are common and should have easy to use shortcuts.
- Better design rules that check for silk screen and pad overlap.
- A BOM manager.
- A Bitscope program to run automated tests to verify a circuit works similarly to the simulations.
- A User Language Program to generate a SPICE subcircuit for a group of parts, and automatically create a new Library part which uses that subcircuit as it's SPICE model. Each explicitly named net in the group would become a pin and a template symbol could be created for the device. Better yet, a dialog could let you connect the nets to pins. Pin ordering and placement could also be configurable. The resulting device could be saved to a library chosen at runtime also through the dialog.