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Beyond the Rulebook
What happens when the rule book is no longer useful, or worse, was never written in the first place? In today’s fast-moving electronics landscape, we’re increasingly asked to design and build what has no precedent, no proven path, and no tidy checklist to follow. This is where “Design for Invention” begins.
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From the growing role of AI in design tools to the challenge of managing cumulative tolerances, these articles in this issue examine the technical details, design choices, and manufacturing considerations that determine whether a board works as intended.
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I-Connect007 Magazine previews APEX EXPO 2026, covering everything from the show floor to the technical conference. For PCB designers, we move past the dreaded auto-router and spotlight AI design tools that actually matter.
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LPKF Presents Innovations for PCB Manufacturing at productronica 2021
October 13, 2021 | LPKFEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
After months of webinars, online contact, and purely virtual events, LPKF is excited to be present at productronica 2021 – and hopes to greet numerous trade show visitors.
At the trade show, the technology company will present a depaneling automation solution for even faster and more cost-efficient cutting of populated boards with a laser – and easy line integration. A completely new, groundbreaking advancement in laser depaneling technology makes it possible to achieve results with exceptional quality at a higher cutting speed. This is all packed into a new system variant in the proven LPKF CuttingMaster 2000 series – which will be unveiled at the trade show.
Also in store for trade show visitors is a demonstration by LPKF of how quickly and easily printed circuit boards can be manufactured in an in-house lab. The company has been equipping labs and development centers in industry and science with circuit board plotters and laser machines for PCB prototyping as well as equipment for SMT applications for decades. The LPKF ProtoLaser U4 will be on display at the trade show as an example of a laser system for prototyping with, especially sensitive materials. This laser system uses a scanner-guided laser specifically developed for electronics labs with a wavelength in the UV region. It can be used to manufacture high-tech prototypes – without any other tools, masks, or films.
With a space-saving, simple, yet reliable process for advanced packaging of integrated circuits – active mold packaging (AMP) – LPKF is already now participating in the development of the upcoming 6G telecommunications standard.
In the laser plastic welding business unit, LPKF sees a lot of overlap with electronics manufacturing – whether in the welding of PCB housings or in the joining of plastics that enrich the innovative field of e-mobility.
Moreover, LPKF has a genuine world’s first here: with LPKF systems, special LDS materials can now be joined. LDS, which stands for “laser direct structuring,” is a leading process in molded interconnect device technology. With it, conductive traces can be produced right on the surfaces of injection-molded components, thus allowing mechanical and electronic functions to be integrated directly on molded parts. Through the new joining possibility, LPKF is paving the way for more flexibility, miniaturization, and functional integration.
LPKF division LaserMicronics, which offers services in the fields of micromachining of materials and laser plastic welding, will present its services at the trade show booth.
As in previous years, visitors to Productronica will find the laser specialist in its familiar place in Hall B2 at Booth 303.
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