STEP file generator for Allegro PCB Assembly Variants

Skill script for Allegro PCB Designer to generate a JSON file containing the board contour and the STEP file mapping for each symbol, as well as the actual STEP file generation by a python script.

Prerequisites

To make the skill script available for use, you need to copy the makeVariant3dIntermediates.il file to your local skill directory ( usually your installation path + \share\pcb\etc ) or the skill directory in the $CDS_SITE path. Append it to the allegro.ilinit file ( add load( "path/makeVariant3dIntermediates.il" ) ) or load it manually via the skill load command ( type set telskill into the command line and then type load("makeVariant3dIntermediates.il" ).

To run the python script, you need to install python and follow the installation instructions at pythonocc-core.

Usage

Once the script is loaded successfully, you can start exporting the json file by typing skill makeVariant3dIntermediates( path ) + enter in the command line. A directory named like the passed argument is created in your project folder containing the .json files.

As a second step, the created .json file(s) need to be passed to the python script. The python script accepts up to 4 arguments, where 2 are mandatory.

1. the filename or path to the .json file
2. the path to the directory alle STEP files of your footprints are stored
3. (optional) filename of the output file (STEP), if not passed, the name will be the name of the .json file with the ending .step
4. include the soldermask in the pcb thickness

Example

python makeStepFile.py "yourDesign.json" "path_to_you_step_files"