Creating Physical Components and Instances

You can create physical components such as capacitors, resistors, or active devices and their instances.

Important: There is a specific sequence to follow to create physical components, instances, 3D packages, and package wraps. In short, it is as follows:
  • Create a physical product to serve as an electronic component.
  • Insert another physical product to serve as the package.
  • Insert a 3D shape to serve as the package geometry.
  • Create a geometry to represent the component.

This task shows you how to:

See Also
Creating a 3D Package and Wrap

Create Physical Components

You can create the physical components to populate a PCB (Printed Circuit Board).

  1. At the top of your screen, click , then Physical Product.
    A physical product node appears at the top of the tree.
  2. Rename the physical product title by right-clicking Properties and editing the Title, for example, Capacitor.
    The new title is reflected in the tree.
  3. Right-click the physical product node and select Insert > Physical Product to insert another physical product within the original one.
    Another physical product node appears in the tree.
  4. Rename the second physical product title by right-clicking Properties and editing the Title, for example, Cylindrical_Package.
    The new title is reflected in the tree.
  5. Right-click the second physical product node and select Insert > 3D Part to insert a 3D Part within the second physical product.
    A 3D Part node appears in the tree.
  6. Rename the 3D Part title by right-clicking Properties and editing the Title, for example, Cylindrical_Package_Geometry.
    The new title is reflected in the tree.
  7. Rename the 3D Shape title by right-clicking Properties and editing the Title, for example, Component_Geometry.
    The new title is reflected in the tree. You can now assign it to be a component.
  8. Sketch the component geometry with a geometry editing tool such as Part Design.
  9. Open Circuit Board Design by double-clicking the 3D Shape node.
  10. From the Create Electronic Object section of the action bar, click Create a physical component.
  11. Assign a physical component by selecting the associated node in the tree, the Physical Product you created in Step 1, for example Capacitor.

    Note: The shape of electronic physical components can be represented with polyhedral geometry objects. Context objects, such as casing, can also be represented with polyhedral geometry.

    The Status window appears with the message The physical component has been created.
  12. Click OK.
  13. Click Create a 3D Package for the Physical Product you created in Step 3.
  14. Click Create a Package Wrap for the 3D Part you created in Step 5.

A physical component has now been created with its package structure.

Create a Physical Component Instance

You can create physical component instances.

  1. Determine which node of the tree is associated with a physical component's instance.
  2. From the Create Electronic Object section of the action bar, click Create a physical component instance.
  3. Click the node in the tree to assign it an instance.
    The Status window appears with the message The physical component instance has been created.

The Instance tab appears when selecting Properties in the node. It is possible to edit the fields according to your requirements.