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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.
March Madness
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.
Looking Forward to APEX EXPO 2026
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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Celera Motion Launches World’s First Platform to Simplify PCB Design Work for Robotic Solutions
March 17, 2023 | Business WireEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Celera Motion, a business unit of Novanta Inc., announced its launch of Summit Designer, an innovative new tool that delivers standard market-ready PCB designs for robotic applications that save significant cost, work and time to market.
Summit Designer is an open-source PCB design library featuring a diverse and vast offering of market-ready application-specific PCBs that are designed, supported, and updated by experts. It is an optimal way to effortlessly develop compact robot joints, multi-axis AGV/AMR systems, industrial end-effectors, and surgical robots, among many others.
It is the first of its kind offered on the market.
“Summit Designer allows developers to create an ideal application using tested and proven PCB Designs,” said Marc Vila, Director of Strategy and Business Development at Celera Motion. “This ingenious new platform cuts development time, decreases the chances of error and reduces prototype iterations. That’s more important than ever as markets evolve faster and grow more competitive. Unexpected delays can be catastrophic to projects.”
Summit Designer is exceptionally easy to use. Every design is open-source and consists of a complete, fully customizable and fully documented Altium project.
Users only have to choose and add their desired modules to create a fully functional servo drive design for a market-ready robot. The options are designed to satisfy the most common requirements, such as type of connectors, communication protocols, safety functions and motor and encoder specifications. Users then receive a fully scalable and modular download file, ready to edit at their convenience. Experts are available to answer questions and guide users.
The entire process takes just five simple steps:
- Bring an idea for a new motion control application to the Summit Designer website.
- Check the PCB designs there to find the one that fits your needs.
- Customize it with our in-depth application guide.
- Talk to our experts and get support whenever needed.
- Plug into a Summit Drive and go to market.
“Summit Designer was developed by top experts in motion control applications and robotics,” Vila said. “Our goal was to make the process as simple, flexible and seamless as possible. Each project allows for high customization and provides all the necessary tools in a single download.”
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Simon Khesin - Schmoll MaschinenSuggested Items
Designing Without a Rulebook: When Engineering Becomes Innovation
05/05/2026 | Stephen V. Chavez, Siemens EDAWhat if the very rules that made you successful as a PCB designer are the ones now holding you back? This reminds me of walking the floor and attending sessions at both PCB West 2025 and APEX EXPO 2026, where one common theme stood out: More designs with traditional PCB “best practices” simply don’t apply. It’s not because they’re wrong, but because the problems we’re solving have fundamentally changed. In some cases, those best practices can actually limit performance. This is where PCB design moves beyond optimization and into something far more challenging: designing without a rulebook.
Custom LIDAR Optics Support Mission-Critical Performance
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SEMI Appoints Julie Rogers Executive Director of the ESD Alliance
05/01/2026 | SEMISEMI, the industry association serving the global semiconductor and electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, announced the appointment of Julie Rogers as Executive Director of the Electronic System Design Alliance (ESDA), a SEMI Technology Community.
IBM, Dallara to Advance AI and Quantum-Powered Design for High-Performance Vehicles
05/01/2026 | IBMIBM and the Dallara Group, a world-leading racing and high-performance vehicle manufacturer, announced a collaboration to advance vehicle design and optimization using AI and explore the use of quantum computing.