Altium LDO

Summary

  • Used Digikey to find the necessary components and created symbols using the information from their data sheets.

  •  Picked out the passive components, like the capacitors and resistors; learned how to create a footprint and design a schematic manually. 

  • Considered inductance and resistance to make the board thermally efficient. 

  • Calculated that a trace width of 15mm would be enough for the current it would experience.

  • Added ground pours and stitching vias to reduce resistance between the ground connections. 

Learning Outcomes

The main purpose of this project was to learn Altium and PCB design. I had to teach myself the guidelines that WARG had put in place. 

  • Learned and understood the electrical theory behind LDO Regulators, MOSFETS and buck converters.
  • Applied electrical theory behind capacitance, inductance and resistance when planning out the layout of my circuit.
  • Learned how to use datasheets to choose compatible components for my schematic.
  • Used datasheet values to create symbols and footprints.
  • Followed WARG schematic and footprint guidelines, such as component placement, orientation, and naming conventions.