Electronics Area

Fusion Electronics Area consists of two workspaces used to create electronic designs and electronics libraries. The workspaces are linked and synced so that they function together as a meaningful design experience.

Electronics Design Workspace

This workspace includes 3 contextual workspaces. They are Schematic, 2D PCB, and 3D PCB. Within the Electronics design these workspaces are represented by 4 documents.

If the presence of EAGLE library files is detected, the option to import the libraries for use inside of Fusion is provided.

1. Design document is the primary (umbrella) document that manages the synchronization between the three other documents. New designs always start with the design and schematic documents.

2. Schematic document is where you document the logic and functionality of the design by adding symbols representing the various board components and their connections. Schematic documents can contain up to 999 sheets, as needed, to document the design logic. The schematic and 2D PCB documents are automatically kept consistent by the Electronics Design Workspace.

3. 2D PCB document is where you layout the components in relation to one another. You can generate the associated circuit board at any time with a single mouse click. A 2D PCB document is opened and all of the schematic components are placed next to the empty board. Components have thin yellow lines (sometimes called air wires) representing unrouted, point-to-point connections between components. You can define or import a board shape and then use the 2D PCB tools to locate components on the board.

4. 3D PCB document is 3D model generated from the 2D PCB data. The 2D and 3D PCB documents are generated from the schematic and include components from the libraries you reference. The component 3D models may be included in the library along with the logical symbol and component footprint, this collection is referred to as a 3D package. If a component doesn't have an associated 3D model, a placeholder shape (rectangle) is substituted when generating the 3D document. You can map 3D models to components in the 2D PCB workspace.

Electronics Library Workspace

Fusion includes a collection of electronics libraries. A library may not contain all of the components in a given design. So, there is also access to Ultra Librarian, which contains thousands of electronic components with their schematics, footprints, and 3D models.

Libraries help organize and maintain the objects used in designs. Fusion libraries include at least three elements, and at times four:

• Component – a fully defined component consists of one symbol and one or more footprints and, optionally, a 3D package. They are stored in libraries.
• Component variant – where two or more configurations of a component exist, they are referred to as variants.
• Symbol – each component has one symbol representing the component logic
• Footprint – each component has a minimum of one footprint. When there are variants, each variant has a footprint. Variants can have different pin assignments
• 3D Package – a 3D model of the component.
  • Each variant can have a different 3D model.
  • The 3D model and footprint must match.
  • For a component to be included in the library it doesn’t require a 3D model. In such cases, when pushing the design to 3D PCB, a placeholder shape is used.