BoardSurfers: Training Insights: Improve Debugging Efficiency Using Procedures In inspectAR-Allegro Flow

Debugging a PCB from a bare schematic and board is a time-consuming task. Using the Augmented Reality (AR) Electronics Platform, inspectAR with the Allegro® PCB Editor flow vastly improves the efficiency of PCB procedural testing by addressing the issues more efficiently.

The inspectAR application helps you document the procedure (step-by-step instructions) that you need to perform on a manufactured PCB design directly in Allegro PCB Editor. A procedure, once created, can be rerun multiple times by any engineer using inspectAR. The feedback from the inspectAR engineer can be relayed to Allegro PCB Editor for review by the designer to close the loop.

InspectAR Procedures

A procedure in inspectAR is a list of steps, and each step can consist of several instructions. A step may contain the following information:

• A set of 2D overlays that will be activated in inspectAR while running the procedure. An overlay guides the user about the visibility of a component or a net
• Instructions from the layout engineer who wrote the procedure
• A list of review comments from the engineer who runs the procedure in inspectAR

In many situations, such as powering up the board or routine debugging, a procedure is the preferred way to communicate with a PCB designer because it documents the processes and allows delegating tasks to others asynchronously, if required. Verifying the noise of a power supply is one such task. Power quality is critical for any engineering design, and most of the supplies designed with a certain operating noise level must be verified.

The task of debugging a board becomes simple provided you know where to connect the test and measurement equipment. To create a procedure, a designer needs to do the following:

1. Open Allegro PCB Editor and select an inspectAR project
2. Download the associated EDA artwork to create steps and add overlays to the procedure
3. Create test instructions and add the appropriate overlays for that step

Example

• Step 1 might include a safety check to ensure the working area is clear of hazards
• Step 2 might include finding the correct test locations on the board for the power supply
• Later steps would cover taking the measurements and documenting the results

A procedure can be created to document the results and analyze the review comments in Allegro PCB Editor. This approach is recommended when a procedure must be run to verify multiple copies of the same design.

Learn More

To learn the complete flow in detail, download the Create, Run, and Review Procedures with inspectAR Allegro Flow Rapid Adoption kit (RAK), which is accessible to all the customers with a Cadence Online Support (COS) account. You can also check out our Cadence training byte link, which is regularly updated with new training videos.

Cadence Application Engineers Himanshu Sahni and Shikhar Dwivedi have authored this RAK.

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