cycleback
Newbie level 1
Are there any circuit layout editors what allow for programmatic control of the layout? Ideally I would like to control the layout that is simulated in a fullwave EM simulator such as ANSYS HFSS, Keysight ADS/EMPro, or CST Studio, etc and couple it to an external optimizer.
One potential path is to script the layout in a traditional PCB schematic capture and layout tool such as KiCad, Altium, PADs, etc. and then export an IPC-2581, ODB++, or other file into the EM simulator and script the application of boundary conditions etc. The other method I could forsee would try to create through scripting simple layouts/geometries directly in the EM simulators. I think the second method might be simpler overall as it would only involve one program ideally.
Does anyone have any experience with the scripting abilities of PCB layout tools and EM simulators? Ideally I would prefer something that can be controlled through Python. I know that KiCad's PCBNew has some scripting ability through Python. Are there other PCB layout tools that can be scripted?
For fullwave EM simulators ANSYS HFSS appears to have a COM/VBA interface. I would prefer something that could work on Linux. How is the scripting in Keysight ADS/EMPro, NI Microwave Studio or CST Studio? Any other recommendations for scriptable EM simulators? Something open source would be even better.
One potential path is to script the layout in a traditional PCB schematic capture and layout tool such as KiCad, Altium, PADs, etc. and then export an IPC-2581, ODB++, or other file into the EM simulator and script the application of boundary conditions etc. The other method I could forsee would try to create through scripting simple layouts/geometries directly in the EM simulators. I think the second method might be simpler overall as it would only involve one program ideally.
Does anyone have any experience with the scripting abilities of PCB layout tools and EM simulators? Ideally I would prefer something that can be controlled through Python. I know that KiCad's PCBNew has some scripting ability through Python. Are there other PCB layout tools that can be scripted?
For fullwave EM simulators ANSYS HFSS appears to have a COM/VBA interface. I would prefer something that could work on Linux. How is the scripting in Keysight ADS/EMPro, NI Microwave Studio or CST Studio? Any other recommendations for scriptable EM simulators? Something open source would be even better.
