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PCBReader

Import and update Gerber files

Since R2021b

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Description

Use the PCBReader object to create a printed circuit board (PCB) reader to import Gerber files and to facilitate the creation of a PCB model. A Gerber file is a set of manufacturing files used to describe a PCB. A Gerber file uses an ASCII vector format to describe 2-D binary images.

Creation

You can create a PCBReader object using the following methods:

  • gerberRead — Create a PCBReader object with the specified Gerber and drill files.

  • The PCBReader function described here.

Syntax

B = PCBReader(S)
B = PCBReader(Name=Value)

Description

B = PCBReader(S) creates a PCBReader object that imports multilayer PCB design files described in S.

Note

example

B = PCBReader(Name=Value) sets Properties using name-value arguments. Name is the property name and Value is the corresponding value. You can specify several name-value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN. Properties not specified retain their default values. For example, B = PCBReader('StackUp',S,'Drillfile','ant.txt') imports the layer and drill files into the PCBReader.

Input Arguments

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PCB stackup definition, specified as a stackUp object.

Example: S = stackUp; B = PCBReader(S)

Example: B = PCBReader('StackUp',S)

Properties

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PCB stackup definition, specified as a stackUp object.

Example: S = stackUp; B.StackUp = S;

Example: B = PCBReader('StackUp',S)

Name of Excellon drill file, specified as a character vector or string scalar. You can specify either a DRL or a TXT file.

Example: B.DrillFile = 'ant.drl'

Discretization points on curved segments, specified as a positive scalar.

Example: B.NumPointsOnCurves = 80

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create a PCB stack up definition object using default properties.

S = stackUp;

Set the thickness of the dielectric Air in layer 1 to 0.1 mm.

S.Layer1.Thickness = 0.1e-3;

Import a top layer Gerber file to layer 2.

S.Layer2 = 'interdigital_Capacitor.gtl';

Create a PCBReader object using the stackUp object, S.

p = PCBReader('StackUp',S);

To update the Gerber file, convert the PCBReader object to a pcbComponent object.

pcbcapacitor = pcbComponent(p);
pcbcapacitor.FeedDiameter = 0.001
pcbcapacitor = 
  pcbComponent with properties:

              Name: 'interdigital_Capacitor'
          Revision: 'v1.0'
        BoardShape: [1x1 antenna.Rectangle]
    BoardThickness: 0.0061
            Layers: {[1x1 dielectric]  [1x1 antenna.Polygon]  [1x1 dielectric]  [1x1 dielectric]}
     FeedLocations: [0 0 2]
      FeedDiameter: 1.0000e-03
      ViaLocations: []
       ViaDiameter: []
      FeedViaModel: 'square'
         Conductor: [1x1 metal]
              Tilt: 0
          TiltAxis: [0 0 1]
              Load: [1x1 lumpedElement]
        SolverType: 'MoM'
        IsShielded: 0

View the PCB component in the Gerber file.

show(pcbcapacitor)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with title pcbComponent element, xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 6 objects of type patch, surface. These objects represent PEC, feed, FR4.

Open Live Script

This example will show how to translate the symmetrical polygon imported from the Gerber file to the respective co-ordinates.

Create a PCB stackup and import rectangular patch on it.

S = stackUp;
S.Layer2 = 'PatchRectangular.gtl';
S.Layer3 = dielectric('Teflon');

Use a PCB Reader to read the polygon shape from the stackup.

p1 = PCBReader ('StackUp',S);
figure; show(p1.shapes);

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 2 objects of type patch. These objects represent PEC, mypolygon.

Translate the shape with center (0,0) using the centriod function from MATLAB.

s = p1.shapes
s = 
  Polygon with properties:

        Name: 'mypolygon'
    Vertices: [4x3 double]


polygon = s;
[x,y] = centroid(polygon);
translate(polygon,[-x, -y, 0]);

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 2 objects of type patch. These objects represent PEC, mypolygon.

Open Live Script

This example shows how to translate the asymmetrical polygon imported from the Gerber file to the respective co-ordinates.

Create a PCB stackup and import rectangular patch on it.

S = stackUp;
S.Layer2 = 'RightAngleBend.gtl';
S.Layer3 = dielectric('Teflon');

Use a PCB Reader to read the polygon shape from the stackup.

p1 = PCBReader ('StackUp',S);
figure; show(p1.shapes);

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 2 objects of type patch. These objects represent PEC, mypolygon.

Translate the shape's bottom left corner to (0,0). Use the boundingbox function from MATLAB to convert the shape to polyshape and find the upper and lower bounds of the shape.

s = p1.shapes
s = 
  Polygon with properties:

        Name: 'mypolygon'
    Vertices: [6x3 double]


ver = s.Vertices(:,1:2);
polygon = polyshape(ver);
[xlim, ylim] = boundingbox(polygon);
translate(s,[-xlim(1), -ylim(1), 0]);

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 2 objects of type patch. These objects represent PEC, mypolygon.

Version History

Introduced in R2021b

See Also

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