Workflow for conveying mechanical information between board files - Fusion

[erussellK6Q8Z]

We’re trying to come up with a workflow to produce a test/ production fixture for product PCB’s.

We have two small product PCB’s that we want to place onto a test fixture. This fixture is comprised of a larger PCB and a mechanical support structure. Pogo pins in the fixture PCB will connect to test points and other pads on the two product PCB’s, which are joined with a flexible cable. All pretty standard. 

The difficulty we have is finding a workflow that gets the precise positioning of the test/ contact points projected onto the fixture PCB in a way that is viewable in the 2D layout environment. We have tried various ways of using PCB Sketch and Project sketch to come up with a method that lets us project positioning of test points from the product PCB’s onto the test fixture PCB, ideally with associativity such that future changes to the product PCB’s would flow downstream to the fixture PCB. 

As an example:

1) Creating a mechanical CAD design for the test fixture, and into that file importing the fixture electronics 3D PCB file, along with the two 3D product PCB files.

2) Positioning the 3D product PCB files where we want them to be in the fixture above the fixture PCB surface.

3) Using Edit in Place to create a PCB sketch inside the fixture electronics 3D file, and projecting the locations of the test points/ pads from the two product PCB’s onto this sketch inside the 3D fixture PCB file, to provide precise locations for the through holes to mount the test point pins. 

Following the three steps above, we see the PCB sketch with the projected points in the 3D fixture PCB file. This shows as a PCB Sketch and can be turned on and off in 3D. We don’t have a “Push to 2D” option under the Modify menu. And we do not see any evidence of this sketch being visible or even existing in the 2D environment- where we actually need it for feature placement. Nothing shows in the Design Manager panel under PCB sketches. 

Is there a better way to get location data from one PCB file into another? Any suggestions appreciated. 

This post has been edited due to: @heather_tracy added the product to the title to help more community members find this topic.

[jorge_garcia]

Hello @erussellK6Q8Z ,

See this page, this is the recommended approach for creating sketches that reflect in the 2D PCB.
https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=ECD-CREATE-3D-PCB-SKETCH-TSK

The edit in place workflow won't create sketches that show up in the 2D PCB. So in short steps 1 and 2 are OK but 3 needs to be done differently.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,