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- All mounting holes are kept away from the edge of the board
- There is adequate support for all the heavy components and connector plugs
- Large boards should have more than 4 mounting points
- Make sure that edge mounting holes are about 2.7mm radius an are at least 3mm away from each edge. Lock these components after placement
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Unless higher current is required, under special circumstances
- Easy attachment point for an oscilloscope probe GND - test points with the ‘test point’ part from digikey work well
- Make sure there are enough GND test points!
- Headers and pins for all communication protocols - for now, 0.1" headers, to standardize on a debug connector
I2C
SPI
etc
Board - Vias
- For 2-layer boards, all vias >= 0.3mm hole, 0.6mm diameter
- For 4-layer boards, all vias >= 0.2mm hole, 0.45mm diameter
- Make sure vias do not interfere with internal layers (DRC should catch this)
- Thermal vias should be small and numerous - we want the greatest surface area between planes as possible
- For critical power traces, use multiple vias in parallel to reduce inductance and resistance
- In general for vias, make the diameter 2x the size of the hole.
Board - Layers
- Make sure there is a keep out layer surrounding your board.
- Make sure all these layers are selected when generating your gerbers.
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- All components are labeled in a logical manner
- Connectors are labelled
- MSXIV Logo is on the board
- Correct board Rev is listed
- Pin 1 labeled on all ICs
- Ensure bottom silkscreen is mirrored
- Optional parts (such as CAN termination) is labeled
- Ensure all polarized components are labelled
- Double-check all of silkscreen in 3D mode
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