Using Eagle for schematics that aren't PCB

Question

I am interested in creating schematic for items that are not PCB's. For example, boat, motorcycle, tractor, house

I have been using Fusion 360 for several years. Is Autodesk Eagle a fit for this application? If not, can somebody suggest low cost (free) alternative schematic software?

thanks,

John

dougw · Answer

This is a pretty good question. Most people get competent on a CAD tool and then just keep using it because it is not worth the investment in time to learn another tool, even if it might be slightly better. Consequently they recommend what they grew up with.

I would use Eagle to make non-PCB schematics, but mainly because I own it and am familiar with it.

When I first chose to use it, I did so because I found it to be quick and productive for the things I was designing. It still is. I tried many CAD tools before settling on Eagle, and I have not regretted the choice.

Eagle s a popular tool, but it is not ideal for everyone. I really like its forward and backward annotation in real time when doing PCB layout and schematic design. If you don't do PCB layouts, this feature isn't important.

There are many more choices now and I have not tried them all, although I do occasionally try a new one just to see if newer tools are much better.

I would suggest that learning a CAD tool is a pretty big investment in time, even the ones where you can design a complete schematic in your first session. So it pays to spend a little time to check out the promising tools by designing a schematic you might actually use. When I do this it usually doesn't take too long before I find things I really don't like. Watching Youtube demos is good too, but they may not be doing the kind of circuits a potential user is interested in, and they often gloss over the drawbacks of the tool.

When selecting a tool, I usually prefer the simplest one (shortest learning curve) that gets the job done quickly, but really simple tools may bog down on more complex designs, so if more complex designs are in your future they may not be worth spending a lot of time learning

fmilburn · Answer

KiCad should also work and is free and full featured. It is attractive to many because of is the powerful PCB layout features with no restrictions - but that isn’t a criteria for you. Still, it may be worth consideration as it is actively being maintained and developed.