Visualize your PCBs in SketchUp

Hackaday brings news of a cool and easy way to visualize your PCBs, which is a weak point in Eagle:

"It's a software package called EagleUp that will import your Eagle CAD PCB designs into Google SketchUp. It bridges the gap between the two using the open source image processing software ImageMagick.

As you can see above, you’ll end up with a beautifully rendered 3D model of your hardware. This is a wonderful way to make sure that your enclosure designs are going to work without needing to wait for the PCBs to arrive from the fab house. It is available for Windows, OSX and Linux (although the last time we tried to run Sketchup under Wine nothing good came of it — perhaps it’s time to try again).

In [Karl's] case, he’s working on an Arduino compatible board based around the Xmega. He mentions that EagleUp is a great way to get an idea of how component placement will end up, and to see if the silk screen layer is going to turn out well or not. Here’s a link to one of his test designs."

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Comments

Ho-Chung Chang November 17, 2011 at 6:31am

Nice!! I had tried this one from my file. It's good then Eagle3D.
T3

Krzysztof Bosak November 17, 2011 at 4:08am

...and place it on Google Earth inside production plant in Shenzen.
Simon November 16, 2011 at 3:34pm

Or you could use the free program from RS - DesignSpark. This too can export 3D data to SketchUp; see here.

Visualizing circuit boards with SketchUp and the PCB Converter

In the world of electronics, designing a stylish, functional and ergonomic product casing around a complex circuit board—with its chips, con...
Anish November 16, 2011 at 2:57pm

@chris ;)
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson November 16, 2011 at 2:38pm

Anish: years of assembling great RSS subs ;-)
Anish November 16, 2011 at 2:33pm

This looks awesome Chris how come u are always the first one to find interesting stuff :)
Paul Marsh November 16, 2011 at 2:28pm

I have been anxiously waiting for those beautiful renderings of APM and the other components to be converted to SketchUp. :( Maybe this will move that along! :)

This reply was deleted.