Modern engineering is now more integrated than ever, with the ability to combine multiple printed circuit boards (PCBs) and subsystems. In reality, it's almost impossible to design a slightly complex electronic product or system using just a single board. A complete electronic device typically requires several PCBs, such as power boards, signal input modules, central processing units, control boards, signal output amplifiers, driver boards, analog and digital signal boards, and more. The question is: is it easy for an electronic engineer to manage all of this? Not really.
Let me be honest — it can be quite overwhelming. What exactly is shown in the image at the beginning of this article? It includes a PCB board above, another below, board-to-board connectors, a base under the board, a shell on top, and everything you see here is part of one project! One project! One project!
So, what’s the current state of PCB design? For years, I’ve often received questions from customers asking if a single project can correspond to just one PCB. Can different parts of a schematic be imported into different PCBs? My answer was always no — a project could only map to one PCB. No matter how many sheets were in the schematic, only one could be imported. I felt embarrassed because I couldn’t help them streamline their workflow or focus on actual development.
Altium has always aimed to solve these challenges. We strive to free engineers from tedious tasks so they can focus on perfect designs. Over the years, we've collected customer feedback and continuously improved our tools, making Altium Designer the ultimate tool for PCB design.
Now, let’s look at a simpler application. Take a Wi-Fi-enabled IoT device like a smart socket. You can control it remotely via your phone, and even connect home appliances like air conditioners, washing machines, TVs, rice cookers, and ovens. For such a simple case, the process might seem straightforward, but it still involves several steps.
The electronics are designed, then the mechanical housing is made. Once that’s done, you check the fit between the mechanical parts and the PCBs. However, problems often arise. For example, during installation, the lower part may fit fine, but the upper part of the circuit board might break — literally.
For more complex systems, communication between PCBs becomes even more critical. How do the boards connect? Which connector is used? If this information is not properly managed through software, it can lead to errors, requiring constant revisions.
Take an IoT kitchen appliance project, for instance. It integrates five key technologies: hardware PCB design, Wi-Fi module design, embedded software, mobile app development, and cloud platform integration. The structure includes a man-machine interface board, power board, control board, and Wi-Fi board.
Each team works on their own part. The mechanical engineers design the interface board, ensuring alignment with the control board. Meanwhile, others focus on the power, control, and Wi-Fi boards. But when integrating everything, issues arise: How to connect the motherboard to the power board? How do the Wi-Fi and control boards communicate? What about firmware coordination?
Communication between teams becomes time-consuming. Emails, meetings, and repeated adjustments are common. Sometimes, a single issue can result in over 30 emails back and forth, wasting valuable time.
After debugging and testing, the final step is electromechanical integration. The result is often a chaotic mess of cables and connectors, showing just how challenging this process can be.
If all the PCBs — along with their schematics and interconnections — were managed within a single project, things would be much easier. Open Altium Designer 18, and you'll see how far the software has come. It truly transforms the design experience.
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