Learn to Use PADS

[Val Gretchev]

If anyone wants to learn to use PADS, sign up here. You can participate or just watch and read but you will get a lot more out of it if you have at least a PADS demo copy. You can download one from Mentor Graphics at https://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-system-design/design-flows/pads/pads-evaluation or you can send me your e-mail address by private message and I’ll tell you where you can get a demo copy.

I have been using PADS since 1987. I suffered through many revisions and had to find many work-arounds to get my designs through the process. Finally, it’s reached a level of stability that I enjoy without too much complaint. As a result of my experience, I am confident that I can use this forum to teach the basics of PADS even though the forum was not intended for such a purpose. A lot of the effort has to come from the student; you have to explore the menus and try things on your own. I can share my set-ups and my libraries and walk through a design. This will give you a quick start in finding your way around the IDE and various utilities.

For the last couple of weeks I have been considering the purchase of MikroElektronika multimedia for PIC32MX7 board and the associated microC PRO for PIC32 compiler along with the microProg for PIC32 and ancillary equipment. I believe this would be a great platform to get familiar with the PIC processor which I had never used before. There are plenty of peripherals on the board that could be used for some cool projects and if I stumble onto the right configuration, I might continue on to building a custom PCB based on these components.

To get started, I want to convert the MikroElektronika (ME) schematic into PADS logic. The ME schematic is fairly easy to understand but it could be made better. By having the design in PADS, I can then extract a Bill of Materials (BOM) and get a design netlist to feed into PADS Layout.

I won’t get started until I get an indication of some interest. So, please let me know.

 

[panic mode]

thank you for generous offer. i have few questions:
1. what is expected learning curve? (an hour, day, week or month)
2. what are restrictions of demo version?
3. what are strengths of Pads?
4. what are weaknesses?
5. how does it compare to other products?

regards,

pm

 

[Val Gretchev]

PADS consists of 3 separate programs.
1. PADS Logic is the schematic capture system.
2. PADS Layout is the PCB design program.
3. PADS Router is the auto-routing program.

Proficiency in all of PADS functions would take at least a year depending on your enthusiasm and motivation. The more you use it, the quicker you will attain proficiency. I am proposing to start out with PADS Logic and see how it goes. Using the forum for this purpose is not the ideal teaching environment. I estimate that you should be able to find your way around the IDE in about 2 weeks. However, if I use the MikroElektronika schematic as an example in teaching, then I expect that it will take more than a month to get through just the schematic portion. I intend to spend a lot of time on the part decals (the schematic symbols) and show how to custom create them. I will also discuss my engineering philosophy from time to time and why I do things the way that I do them. It has served me well over the years and I wish to transfer that knowledge to the younger generation.

I am not using the demo version myself but I believe it cannot save your design file to disk. If someone can check on that I would be pleased. That is why I proposed an alternative in my opening statement.

The remaining 3 questions can be summarized as follows:
PADS is an industrial strength tool that can be used in most commercial environments. It creates Gerber files that have no errors and can be e-mailed to PCB manufacturers to process without further support. There are no weaknesses.

I hope this answers your questions. I do not wish to get into further discussions on the merits of PADS vs. other software tools. I don’t know how other software tools compare nor do I care. This thread is for learning PADS and I am willing to invest my time into that endeavor only.