OBJECTIVE  :

This tutorial aims at providing a step-wise explanation for milling a circuit board for the layout shown in fig1. The layout in fig1 involves six surface mount components, hence resulting in a surface mount PCB.  Three softwares are used for this purpose, viz. TRAXPLOT , ISOLATOR , QCAM.

                                           Fig 1

TRAXPLOT :

INVOKING THE SOFTWARE :

1) From the directory containing the .PCB file, type TRAXPLOT and press enter key.

2) In the screen shown in fig 2, press any key to start.

                                               Fig 2

 

USING THE SOFTWARE :

3) The  menu titled 'TRAXPLOT 1.61' is the MAIN MENU.

4) Select the FILE option from this menu.

5) Choose the LOAD option from the FILE menu.

6) In the box titled LOAD PCB FILE NAME enter the PCB filename along with the path. Display will return to the FILE menu. Press Esc to return to the MAIN MENU.

7) Select MAIN MENU --> OPTIONS --> TYPE OF PLOT option.

8) In the box titled SELECT PLOT TYPE choose the batch mode option. Display will return to the SETUP OPTIONS menu.

9) In this menu, turn the board layer ON by placing the cursor on the BOARD LAYER option and pressing the enter key. This option toggles between ON and OFF on pressing the enter key. Apply the following settings in the same manner:
 

 Pads

ON

 Strings

OFF

Vias

ON

Title block

OFF

Single layer pad holes

ON


 
 

10) Select the MAIN MENU --> TRAXPLOT --> SETUP --> GERBER --> OUTPUT FILE option.

11) In the box titled OUTPUT FILE enter the output filename along with the path. The output filename should be the same as that of the .PCB file without any extension. Press Esc twice to return to the main menu.

12) Now choose MAIN MENU-->GERBER PLOT option.

13) In the menu titled CONFIRM PROCEED WITH GERBER PLOT, that appears choose yes.

14) A menu titled MATCHING OF SHAPES will appear, choose the automatic option from this menu.

15) In the menu ALWAYS CONFIRM PAINT - MATCH FOR SHAPE ? choose no.

16) In the menu FILL PERIMETER MATCH, that appears choose automatic.

17) In the screen displayed in fig 3  choose any option (I selected flash and then stroke). In boxes that follow choose any option and press enter key till the screen in fig 4 appears.
 

                                           Fig 3

   

                                          Fig 4


 

18) In the figure shown in fig 4 press any key and continue.

     Note : While performing step 17 or after, if the software displays a menu titled ABORT PROCESS choose the no option.

19) Select MAIN MENU-->SETUP-->NCDRILL-->TOOLTABLE option.

20) In the box titled OUTPUT FILE enter the filename along with the path (name should be the same as that of the .PCB file, without any extension).

21) The display will now be in NCDRILL SETUP menu. Press Esc twice to return to MAIN MENU.

22) Now select FILE-->QUIT option.

23) Choose yes in the menu CONFIRM QUIT TO DOS.

24) The .TOL file generated consists of the diameter of various tools required to drill holes on the board. The contents  of the file can be viewed using any text editor. In our case we need only one tool of size 125 mils.

          This ends the procedure for TRAXPLOT software. Now the Isolator software needs to be configured.

25) Convert the .MAT files generated by traxplot to .APR by typing pro2apr filename.mat. Where filename is name of the .PCB file.

26) Move the files from the current directory to the isolator directory, by typing easy filename in the current directory. filename is the name of the .PCB file.

27) Now type ISO at the prompt. This will take you to the ISOLATOR directory.

ISOPRO

     INVOKING THE SOFTWARE:

28) Click the isopro icon in the taskbar and initialize the software. The window similar to the below one appears.

     

                                                                             Fig 5

 29) In the figure 5, box named as 1 denotes the icon for importing the aperture file and box named as 2 denotes for importing the tool file.

Click the box 1 and there is a button called IMPORT. Click the button and select the directory in which all the files that we got from TRAXPLOT software are stored. The aperture file is the one with .APR extension. Double click the  .APR extension file and open it. Press OK to exit from the menu.

 30) Click the box 2 and press the IMPORT button. Look for the .TOL extension file. Double click it and open it. Press OK to exit from the menu.

 31)  Now go to FILE - - > IMPORT- - > AUTO DETECT FILES

 Now look for the .GTL extension file. Open the .GTL extension file. The following  screen as in Fig 6 appears.

 

 

                                                                          Fig 6

 Choose the dimension that almost suits the dimension of the board that is drawn using AUTOTRAX software. Double click the dimension that is to be selected.

 32) Now go to FILE - - > IMPORT- - > AUTO DETECT FILES .Now look for the .DRL extension file. Open the .DRL extension file. Choose the dimension that almost suits the dimension of the board that is drawn using AUTOTRAX software. Double click the dimension that is to be selected.

 33) Now go to FILE - - > IMPORT- - > AUTO DETECT FILES. Now look for the .GBL extension file. Open the .GBL extension file. Choose the dimension that almost suits the dimension of the board that is drawn using AUTOTRAX software. Double click the dimension that is to be selected.

 34) Now at the top left corner of the window, three colorful layers are seen in their EDIT mode. Now click the first EDIT window once. On clicking it once it changes to VIEW mode. Similarly click the second EDIT window once and it changes to VIEW mode.

             Now make sure that the blue window is in VIEW mode ,green window is in VIEW mode and red window is in EDIT window as shown in Fig 7.

 

                                                                         Fig 7

35) Now go to EDIT-- > SELECT -->  ALL DATA .

 

                                                                            Fig 8

36) Now go to EDIT -- > MIRROR.

37) Now go to TOOLS- - > ISOLATE. There appears  a window with three files. Click the .GTL extension file and click the ISOLATE button .

 38) Once again go to TOOLS- - > ISOLATE. Now click the .GBL extension file and click the ISOLATE button.

40) Now click the box 3 as shown in the fig5. A small window appears. Click the .DRL extension file and click the EXPORT button. Store the file with filename.PLT extension file in the C:\WORK \ directory.

 41) Now again click the box 3 as shown in the figure 1. Click the .GTL (46 mils) extension file and click the EXPORT button. Store the file with filename.PLT extension file in the C:\WORK \ directory.

 42) Similarly store the .GTL 28 mils and 10 mils files with filename.PLT extensions files and store in the C:\WORK directory.

 43) Similarly export three .GBL files and store them  as filename.PLT files in the C:\WORK\ directory.

QCAM :
                   The Qcam software controls the milling machine and helps configuring various parameters of the machine.

 44) Turn the milling machine ON and type QCAM in the qcam directory.

45) The screen in fig 9 will appear and the machine's milling head will position itself. After the head positions itself the screen in fig 10 will  appear.
 

Fig 9


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                               Fig 10

46) Select CONFIGURATION-->SETUP SPEED PARAMETERS option from the menu. In the box titled SPEED PARAMETERS, set the milling speed to 40 and press the enter key.

47) Select LOAD-->ISOLATOR FILE option from the menu. In the box LOAD FILE, press enter key. A box titled LOAD FILE will appear. Select DRILL option from the box. The screen in will now appear as in fig 10.

48) To view the layout, Select VIEW option from the menu. The screen will appear as in fig 11. Press Esc to quit the view mode.

Fig 11


49) To change the board, select MILL-->MATERIAL CHANGE option from the menu. The milling head will go back. Now we can change the board. Enter 'Y' for the head to return to home position.

50) Select MILL/DRILL file option from the menu. The milling head will move forward. Change the milling tool to the one specified in the blue box at the center of the screen as shown in fig 12 Once the machine completes milling the specified tool, it will display the next tool required. Replace and press enter key. After completing all tools, the display will return to the main menu.

Fig 12

  51) Repeat steps 47, 48, 50 for the top layer by selecting TOP in step 47. The board need not be changed i.e., step 49 need be performed.

52) To mill the bottom layer perform step 50, not to change the board, but to flip it over. Perform steps 47, 48, 50 by selecting BOT in step 47.

53) To cut the board load the bottom layer using step 48, but selecting BOT instead of DRILL.

54) Choose MILL/DRILL option from the main menu. The milling head will move forward. Replace the tool with a CONTOUR ROUTER. Press space key till display returns to main menu. The head will get to the home position.

55) Select VIEW option from the menu. Place the cursor on the outer border line and press Alt m. The machine will start cutting the board.

56) To cut the board the milling speed should be changed to 4 in/min. Perform this change using step 46, but entering 4 instead of 40.

57) Remove the board and clean it well with a cloth.