Area 05
PCB design
From a circuit drawing to a real board
A printed circuit board (PCB) holds and connects the electronic parts inside almost every device. Designing one means placing parts and drawing copper tracks between them.
What you will learn
- How a circuit diagram becomes a board layout
- Why tracks must not cross, and how designers route around obstacles
- How to place components neatly and logically
- Why boards have layers, pads and holes
Example experiments
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Turn a simple LED circuit into a board layout.
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Route tracks between parts without any crossings.
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Rearrange components to make shorter, cleaner tracks.
Things you can build
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A board for a blinking light
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A board for a small sensor
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A badge-sized board with your own design
These examples show the kind of work in this area. The published lessons may differ.
What the simulation simplifies
- A board designed in a lesson is not checked against real manufacturing rules.
- Real boards also deal with heat, interference and soldering: topics for later.
Every simulation simplifies reality. Knowing how it does so is part of learning engineering.
Links to school subjects
Electronics, geometry, design, technology
Connections to other areas
PCB design continues electrical circuits and digital logic, and prepares for robotics.
Good to know
Almost every electronic device, from a calculator to a phone, contains at least one printed circuit board.