This is what they do at *tium :) http://wiki.altium.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=4426668
You have an special board, which is linked to other boards, and they are repeated in X / Y as you wish, then you add the extra features: fiducials, holding holes, cuts, v-scores, ..., and dump out the gerbers. When you change your linked boards then the "panelized" board changes. I think that this could probably be done in scripting. 2012/6/27 Lorenzo Marcantonio <[email protected]> > On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 09:47:14PM +0200, Richard wrote: > > I tried to download and install the GerbMerg. But I was not able to > > install it either on my Ubuntu computer nor on a Windows laptop, > > what made me frustrated as I spent hours trying everything to get it > > up and running. > > There are a lot of free panelizer around... have you tried *all* of > them??? > > > So I thought, it could be a realizable job to do that in GerbView. > > Can anybody tell me if that is an idea or is that not of interest. > > Who is responsible for GerbView. Is there something like a quick > > start guide on what has been done up to now. > > I personally object to adding CAM features to a CAD program... > panelization is *much more* than just copy and pasting the same board > over and over (otherwise you'll just need the step and repeat gerber > command:D). You need to add various kind of coupons (depending on the > features required), global fiducials, tooling holes, milling/scoring > routes and so on. Never seen an OSS tool with all the needed features... > There is a whole CAM industry out there (I used gerbtool, CAM350 and our > fabricator uses genesys2000, for example) and they have *a lot* of > functions needed beside panelization... > > If I wanted to do such kind of tool I would do a separate executable: > a mix of gerbv and pcbnew; the gerbv part for importing the gerbers, and > some functions of pcbnew for tooling and so on. > > Alternatively we could add a new kind of object in pcbnew (a > GerberInstance, for example) that would 'stamp' the plots on the current > board with translation, rotation and flipping (yes, flipping is > important! it's used both for better use space with asymmetric board and > in some workflow with components on both sides). > > The use case would be like this: > 1) Open pcbnew, new board, draw the *panel* edge on the edge layer; > 2) Put tooling holes, global fiducials and so on (these could be also > kept on a 'template' panel board) > 3) Define a GerberInstance from the board files (import layers, drill, > pick and place and maybe IPC356 stuff) > 4) Place this instance as required (array, interlocking patterns, or > other) > 5) Repeat step 3 and 4 as needed if you want to do a multiboard panel; > it happens more often than you would think (for example: main pcb, > control panel pcb and maybe a separate power supply) > 6) Add coupons, texts and stuff: drawing them, appending them or as > GerberInstances > 7) Plot panel gerbers and drills > 8) Emit IPC356A file containing panelization info (OK, actually > I haven't finished yet the single board 356 exporter, but the format > requires subimage separation). > > Without step 8 you'll have some serious testing issue, but if you're > using a fat board (i.e. clearances and tracks >0.2mm) maybe you could > avoid testing altogether. > > The only thing missing would be fixing the board borders for scoring, > rat bites or whichever separation method you'll want to use... sadly > this would require a full NC editor. However most probably the > fabricator would help with that, since he need to convert anyway the > borders to mill cord. > > -- > Lorenzo Marcantonio > Logos Srl > > _______________________________________________ > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers > Post to : [email protected] > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > -- Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo http://www.nbee.es +34 636 52 25 69 skype: ajoajoajo
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