Hi,
We appreciate your participation in the Fusion 360 electronics forum. I'm confident that all of you have noticed a recent update for Fusion 360, and the electronics portion did get many new and improved features you requested.
Improved the performance of Fusion 360 electronics when running scripts, and ULP execution
EAGLE users are used to the snappy performance in EAGLE. With Fusion 360 electronics, users have experienced a performance drop when executing scripts and ULP's (User Language Programming). With this update, you will notice a staggering 60-100x improvement in performance when running ULP's and scripts.
We used the Beagle Bone Black Wireless to test the performance of some of the mainly used ULPs and scripts:
|
ULP Name |
EAGLE v9.6.2 |
Fusion 360 update |
|
Teardrop.ulp |
4:10 Minute |
6.5 Seconds |
|
Teardrop Undo |
6:02 Minutes |
3.5 Seconds |
|
cmd-renumber |
9 Seconds |
2 Seconds |
|
Panelize |
55 seconds |
3 Seconds |
|
Copy-silkscreen |
3:50 Minutes |
10.5 Seconds |
|
Import DXF |
3:10 Minutes |
5.5 Seconds |
Improve Performance while Tab Switching
The essence of Fusion 360 is to provide you with a platform that has multiple engineering disciplines fully integrated into one environment. Adding smart technology to your next mechanical design is simply a tab away. Our users have reported that, at times, when switching between the PCB and 3D modeling environments, it would take several seconds to refresh. In this latest update, you will no longer experience a delay. Our team of developers has minimized the page refresh to a fraction of the current time, making it look instantaneous.
Additional Layers on footprint now appear on the Package Editor
The Fusion 360 library editor provides the capability to map or create packages with an innovative Package editor that includes IPC-7351 compliant component templates and more, making it extremely easy to build components for your design in a noticeably brief time. The Package editor is also used to Map existing 3D models to your footprints. The footprint appears in the package editor in construction lines, and initially, only Pads and the component outline would appear. In this update, you now have the convenience of having the Milling Layer and Holes appear on the package workspace, making it so much easier to align the 3D model to the footprint.
CAM Processor now includes an Image Processor
The CAM processor will now include an image processor section, and it will support BMP, JPG, and PNG output formats. This configurable section will now help you generate your design images for documentation or for making PCB prototypes when using Toner Transfer methods.
Design Space Sketch circles get converted to holes in the PCB
Initially, the holes you defined in Fusion 360 design workspace came in as circles on the Dimension layer in the PCB editor. We have updated this by replacing the circle for holes in the PCB, defining a proper hole-to-hole relationship for appropriate manufacturing output.
Add 3D models to parts directly in the Schematic or PCB Editor
The design process of a PCB, in Fusion 360, has the advantage that in a matter of moments, you can view and edit your PCB in the 3D Model space. Using parts that have 3D models assigned to the footprint is the most effective way to work in the electronic design space, but there will be times the parts you used did not have a 3D model available, resulting in a default 3D grey box. To add a 3D model to the footprint would constitute editing the library and adding the 3D model in the library editor workspace. In this update, you will now be able to add a custom 3D model or change the 3D model for a component directly from the Schematic or PCB workspace. A similar feature is available in Autodesk EAGLE. Remember that components from imported designs can be associated with a new or existing library, allowing you to edit or map 3D models for future use.
New library parts - IC_Wireless-RF library
In this release we have added popular Lora chips (IC_Wireless-RF library) from Semtech, Microchip which are present in Lora Modules, widely used for IoT applications. LoRa modules are commonly used for applications that transmit small chunks of data with low bit rates, making it ideal for actuators and sensors to operate in low power mode. And these IC parts will be useful when user develop their custom board.
In addition to that, we also added a new library exclusively for Tinkercad as a part of link from Tinkercad into Fusion 360 feature. This library covers all the Components (that can be soldered & assembled on a PCB) found on the Tinkercad circuits webpage.
Inputting negative values -2.5 or .5 point for the component position is now working
Editing the properties position of a component on the PCB or Schematic editor did not allow inputting negative or solely decimal values. For this update, this has been fixed. Remember that moving assets in the PCB editor remain subject to the active violation mode. Therefore, your DRC setting will restrict the move if the Walkaround or Push & Shove environments are enabled.
Added Template for DIP socket package in the Package Editor
DIP sockets are commonly used on designs that require components to be easily replaced, such as programmable devices. The new DIP Socket package is another addition to the existing package editor templates available in the package editor. Our goal with the Package generator is to support all IPC Standard and as many non-IPC footprints as possible, and each new type of component gets us closer to that goal.
Using the CMD-RENUNBER ULP would cause a circular dependency error when pushing an update to 3DPCB
There are instances that the name sequence for the parts is lost while adding and deleting components during the design process. The Renumber Component ULP will eliminate all the gap names available on your design. Some of you contacted us stating that after running this routine, an error would occur when pushing for a 3D model of your PCB. In this update, the team of developers found what was triggering this problem and fixed it.
Fusion 360 team library editor access
We received reports from users stating that members of a Fusion Team Hub would get a Permission Error while editing a shared library. Our team of developers located the problem and took care of it in this update.
Our team of developers continues working arduously to make your Fusion 360 your program of choice for all your PCB design needs. Please remember that you can load your EAGLE design file in Fusion 360 without file conversion.
Best Regards,
Ed
.
Edwin Robledo
Tech Marketing Manager
