Make autoroute work really hard

On 10/3/11 6:19 PM, Ion Marqvardsen wrote:

Hi,

 

I would like the concept of the autorouter, but I have a problem when the PCB is complicated.

 

The autorouter works 30 sec max, and then 'gives up' on the last few wires. (Which are then impossible to fix!!!)

 

I would like to make the autorouter work until it is finished 100%. It is no problem to have the PC on for 24 hours.

 

Does anybody have experience with making the autorouter work? And is is explained in the documenttation how to setup the router?

 

Best Regards,

 

>

Gustav

 

You can adjust the settings in the autorouter window for it to try

harder. In the autorouter dialog, go to the Route tab. At the

bottom-right you will see three text boxes, RipupLevel, RipupSteps and

RipupTotal. The bigger you make these numbers, the harder Eagle tries to

route a signal.

Andrew Sterian

Emsyde Design

<http://emsyde.com>

I have followed your advice and increased the

RipupLevel to 100 (was 10)

RipupSteps to 1000 (was 100)

RipupTotal to 1000 (was 100)

This did not improve the result. The routing time was also about the same. I have also experimented with the "perferred directions" in the general tab, this changes the routing but the result is still not good enough.

I have followed your advice and increased the

RipupLevel to 100 (was 10)

RipupSteps to 1000 (was 100)

RipupTotal to 1000 (was 100)

This did not improve the result. The routing time was also about the same. I have also experimented with the "perferred directions" in the general tab, this changes the routing but the result is still not good enough.

Yes, the placement is the most important first condtion for a good, nice looking PCB.

Now, the autorouter has finished 100% with my PCB. It is not good looking but I trust it would work.

I have tested the routing in Eagle v4 before, and I think that in v5 the router has improved significantly.

One day, the autorouter it will be better than us. Maybe Eagle v7?

I remember when Garry Kasparov lost to an IBM computer in 1997. It will also happen with PCB routing.

On 10/04/2011 10:44 AM, Ion Marqvardsen wrote:

Yes, now I have tried that. Previously the grid was 0.1 mm.

 

Now I have reduced it to 0.02 mm, this increases the routing time by a factor of more than 10...

 

The routing is still only 99.3% finished.  I will play some more with the settings, and hope I don't have to route it myself.

 

More suggestions and advice are welcome.

 

Best,

 

Gustav

 

I don't auto route but check to see if all your pads hit the grid you

will be using for routing. Also set the grid to a 1/2 to 1/10 your

minimum pitch.

Move some stuff around to clear the dense areas and shorten bussed

signals. If you manually route or auto route placement is the most

important first step.

Paul R.

Yes, now I have tried that. Previously the grid was 0.1 mm.

Now I have reduced it to 0.02 mm, this increases the routing time by a factor of more than 10...

The routing is still only 99.3% finished.  I will play some more with the settings, and hope I don't have to route it myself.

More suggestions and advice are welcome.

Best,

Gustav 

On 10/04/2011 05:04 AM, Ion Marqvardsen wrote:

  I have followed your advice and increased the

RipupLevel to 100 (was 10)

RipupSteps to 1000 (was 100)

RipupTotal to 1000 (was 100)

 

This did not improve the result. The routing time was also about the same. I have also experimented with the "perferred directions" in the general tab, this changes the routing but the result is still not good enough.

 

Did you change the routing grid to a finer setting.

Paul