{"id":569,"date":"2017-06-05T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2017-06-05T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/eagle\/blog\/?p=569"},"modified":"2023-09-25T14:21:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T21:21:14","slug":"eagle-first-flights-webinar-joining-autorouting-flock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/eagle-first-flights-webinar-joining-autorouting-flock\/","title":{"rendered":"EAGLE First Flights Webinar – Joining the Autorouting Flock"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAGLE First Flights Webinar – Joining the Autorouting Flock<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n

Ask any engineer how they feel about their autorouter, and you might get a look of disgust, confusion, or maybe both at the same time. This technology gets a bad wrap in the world of PCB design. Is this because it\u2019s misunderstood, or is it really terrible? Truth be told, autorouting can be a blessing in disguise when used in the right situations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not meant to entirely replace your job as a PCB designer, but it can certainly augment it, providing new insights into challenging routing situations that you might have needed a new perspective. So are you ready to make peace with your autorouter? Join us for a free webinar<\/a>, and we\u2019ll show you the path of autorouting wisdom and design rule checking. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

Remember, It\u2019s Just a Tool<\/h2>\n\n\n

The autorouter is a tool like any other in your PCB design toolbox. Maybe it\u2019s the name that gives it such a bad rap, with many designers expecting an autorouter to do it all, and do it just like they expected. The only problem is, this never happens! The way we route a PCB layout as a human is very different from how a computer will do it. It\u2019s an entirely different way of looking at a circuit board, and actual engineering wisdom comes from understanding both sides of the story.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember when I first discovered the autorouter in Autodesk EAGLE. I was working on my first design that had an IC with over 30 pins and didn\u2019t want to deal with the hassle of connecting all of those wires together. So here was a shortcut, the autorouter! I spun it up, dialed in some settings, and gave it a run. Well, the results it came back with were not what I had in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where was all the beauty, all of the elegance that I was expecting in my traces?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had made a beginner mistake, like many designers do, of assuming that an autorouter is supposed to do my job for me. Autorouting is an augmentation to your abilities, not a replacement. Sometimes I\u2019ll run the autorouter just to see how it will route my board layout, and then erase everything with the new insights I gained. Think of it as a second pair of eyes. When using your autorouter, you need to keep several things in mind:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n