Rigid Flex Support

[vmanW5QSE]

Wanted to see what are the plans to add rigid flex support to Fusion 360. Looking through the forum there has been talk about it for the past four years however that is it. With Eagle being EOL most things that I need have been workarounds and would really like not to have to deal with a rigid flex workaround with Fusion 360. 

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @vmanW5QSE,

I hope you're doing well. Thank your for your request. We are working on figuring how to natively handle this, it's a big task. If you have any ideas about how you would like to see it implemented, we are all ears.

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

Best Regards,

[warren_hawkins57R37]

I'd like to see this as well. I'd be willing to provide feedback as well. It's a bit challenging without this feature. I'd like to see the following.

1) Ability to pick which layers are flexible.

2) Place components on these layers as there will be a different top and bottom layer on the flex part than the rigid part. The flex layers are often internal layers in a rigid stackup to maintain symmetry.

3) Will require different soldermask, solder paste and silkscreen layers for the flex part.
4) Should have different DFM rules for the flex layers.

5) Would be nice if we could bend it in the 3D model. A plus would be that it could auto bend when joining connectors. Maybe have a few points we can adjust to place the flex in the mechanical design. Being able to adjust the length and push back to the 2D PCB would be advantageous.

[melisa.kaner]

Hi @warren_hawkins57R37 & @vmanW5QSE  , 

Thanks so much for taking the time to give feedback! I'd love to discuss this more so I can understand your requirements more deeply. 

I'll DM you now to hopefully jump on a quick call. 

Best regards,

Melisa

[warren_hawkins57R37]

One additional thing I just thought of was needing to specify stiffeners, usually on the end of the flex where there is a connector.