Silkscreen placement rules in PCB Design - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a PCB design engineer working on a new circuit board layout.

📋 Request: Your manager wants a report showing how silkscreen markings are placed on the PCB to avoid overlaps and ensure readability.

📊 Data: You have data on component positions, silkscreen text locations, and keepout zones where silkscreen cannot be placed.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a dashboard that visualizes silkscreen placement relative to components and keepout zones, and calculates the percentage of silkscreen text correctly placed without overlap.

Sample Data

ComponentID	X_Pos	Y_Pos	Silkscreen_X	Silkscreen_Y	Keepout_X1	Keepout_Y1	Keepout_X2	Keepout_Y2
R1	10	20	11	21	9	19	12	22
C1	30	40	31	41	29	39	32	42
U1	50	60	55	65	48	58	52	62
L1	70	80	71	81	69	79	72	82
D1	90	100	95	105	88	98	92	102
Q1	110	120	111	121	109	119	112	122
R2	130	140	131	141	128	138	132	142
C2	150	160	151	161	148	158	152	162

1

Step 1: Create a table that checks if silkscreen text is inside the keepout zone for each component.

For each row, check if Silkscreen_X is between Keepout_X1 and Keepout_X2 AND Silkscreen_Y is between Keepout_Y1 and Keepout_Y2. If yes, mark 'Overlap', else 'Clear'.

Expected Result

R1: Overlap, C1: Overlap, U1: Overlap, L1: Overlap, D1: Overlap, Q1: Overlap, R2: Overlap, C2: Overlap

2

Step 2: Calculate the percentage of silkscreen texts placed without overlap.

Count of 'Clear' silkscreen placements divided by total components times 100.

Expected Result

0% (0 out of 8 components have clear silkscreen placement)

3

Step 3: Create a scatter plot showing component positions and silkscreen text positions with color coding for overlap status.

X-axis: Component X_Pos, Y-axis: Component Y_Pos; Overlay silkscreen positions with different color for 'Overlap' (red) and 'Clear' (green).

Expected Result

Scatter plot with red dots for overlap near components (no green dots since no clear placements).

4

Step 4: Add a filter to the dashboard to show only components with silkscreen overlap.

Filter visual to show only rows where silkscreen status = 'Overlap'.

Expected Result

Dashboard updates to show only components where silkscreen text overlaps keepout zones.

5

Step 5: Summarize findings in a card visual showing total components, overlaps, and clear placements.

Create three cards: Total Components = 8, Overlaps = 8, Clear = 0.

Expected Result

Cards display correct counts matching data.

Final Result

Scatter Plot

↓

Cards

↓

Filter

✓100% of the silkscreen texts overlap with keepout zones and need repositioning.

✓No clear silkscreen placements found in the current data.

✓Using this dashboard helps quickly identify and fix silkscreen placement issues.

Bonus Challenge

Add a calculated measure that suggests new silkscreen positions by offsetting overlapping texts by +5 units on X and Y axes.

Show Hint

Use a conditional formula: If overlap, new position = Silkscreen_X + 5, Silkscreen_Y + 5; else original position.