Flux Blog

Streamlining the CAD Librarian Workflow with Flux

This post provides a detailed overview of how CAD Librarians can leverage Flux’s key capabilities—AI Part Imports, Component Updates, Live Pricing, and JEP30 Export—each tailored to meet the specific demands of maintaining PCB libraries. For more in-depth guidance, links to relevant sections of our documentation are provided.

AI Part Import: Automate Data Extraction and Mapping

Traditionally, librarians must manually extract and input data from component datasheets, which is not only labor-intensive but also prone to human error. Flux automates this process with its AI-driven part import feature, allowing you to parse datasheets directly into your library.

• Automated Pin Mapping: Our AI engine scans the datasheet, identifies pin functions, and generates the necessary mapping. This eliminates the need for manual entry and dramatically reduces the risk of misconfigurations.
• Data Enrichment: Beyond simple pin mapping, Flux enriches the part data by automatically extracting additional metadata, such as temperature ratings, voltage tolerances, package information, and compliance standards. This enriched data is readily available to engineers, improving design accuracy and efficiency.
• Consistency: The AI ensures uniformity across the library, which is critical when working with high-density or complex components.

Learn how to do AI part imports in Flux.

Component Updates: Centralized Control for Library Management

Component lifecycle management is a major responsibility for CAD Librarians, as maintaining up-to-date libraries ensures that engineers are always working with the latest verified parts. With Flux, component updates are automatically managed, reducing manual effort and ensuring consistency across designs.

• Real-Time Notifications: Whenever a component in the library is updated, Flux sends real-time notifications to all projects using that part. This minimizes the risk of outdated or obsolete components creeping into active designs.
• Version Control: Each update is tracked with version control, enabling you to review changes, revert if necessary, or compare part versions. This ensures full traceability of modifications across all projects.
• Minimized Risk of Obsolescence: Updates include supplier-specific information, such as end-of-life notifications, enabling proactive management of critical components before they become unavailable.

For detailed technical information, please refer to our documentation on component updates.

Live Pricing Integration: Real-Time Data from Suppliers

Component procurement is not just about ensuring technical compatibility—it’s also about balancing cost and availability. Flux integrates directly with supplier databases to provide live pricing and stock levels, which are visible directly within the part data.

• Dynamic Pricing: Flux continuously fetches and updates pricing from a range of suppliers, ensuring that design teams are always working with the most up-to-date cost information.
• Availability Tracking: In the event that a part becomes unavailable or reaches end-of-life, Flux notifies you immediately, allowing for quick reassessment of alternatives without delaying the design process.
• Vendor Transparency: This feature gives engineers and librarians full visibility into vendor options, delivery timelines, and bulk pricing, empowering them to make data-driven decisions when selecting components.

Learn how Live Pricing works in more detail.

JEP30 Export: Ensuring Cross-Tool Compatibility

Flux's support for JEP30 export allows you to seamlessly integrate part data across multiple tools. The JEP30 format is widely accepted and enables you to transfer parts between different CAD platforms without losing data integrity.

• Format Consistency: When exporting parts, the JEP30 standard ensures that all metadata, pin mappings, and other configurations are preserved across different EDA tools, reducing the need for manual re-entry and preventing data loss.
• Interoperability: Whether you’re working within a multi-tool environment or collaborating with external teams using different CAD software, JEP30 export guarantees that your parts remain accessible and accurate, regardless of the platform.
• Time Savings: By leveraging this export capability, you can minimize repetitive manual tasks associated with re-entering part data into different tools, ultimately saving both time and reducing errors.

Here's a detailed guide on how to use the JEP30 Export feature.

The Flux Advantage for CAD Librarians

Flux offers a robust set of tools designed specifically to enhance your workflow as a CAD Librarian. By automating tasks like datasheet parsing and part updates, providing real-time supplier data, and ensuring compatibility across multiple platforms, Flux helps you streamline library management while reducing errors and ensuring design integrity.

For a more comprehensive look at Flux’s features, including how to integrate them into your workflow, check out our full documentation.

“Without Flux, it would have taken me months to master another tool. Flux made it possible to design my first board in just a few days, even while I was working a 9-to-5.”
‍– Michael van Niekerk, Co-Founder and Head of Technology, Agri-iO 

About Agri-iO 

‍Agri-iO is an agriculture-focused automation company that augments people's existing farming solutions with connected hardware and software. They aim to solve the problems faced by farmers who have unreliable GSM signals by automating pumps and monitoring water levels in remote areas. With Agri-iO’s solutions, anything on a farm can be automated and driven from one application, even when there's no Wi-Fi or LTE. 

Agri-iO’s Problem

Agri-iO’s Co-Founder and Head of Technology, Michael van Niekerk, has a technical background, but at the onset of the company, he had never designed a PCB. So, when it came time for the team to develop their first product, off-the-shelf (OTS) electronics were the obvious solution.

Agri-iO designed its original products using Pycom’s LoPy devices. These products included automating existing irrigation pivots, tank and dam control, and pump automation. These devices were selected because of their MicroPython-enabled ESP32 chipset and support for LoRa, Wi-Fi, and BLE connectivity. With electronics in hand, Agri-iO wrote its MicroPython code, and the team was off to the races. 

It wasn’t long before they started securing large contracts.

However, right before kicking off an important new project, Agri-iO discovered that Pycom was going out of business, and that meant their products were discontinued. Suddenly, Agri-iO was left without a hardware solution and a contract to fulfill.

“We were originally using Pycom's LoPy devices. But the company went bankrupt just before we got a big contract with Zambeef in Zambia, and we found ourselves left without a supply.”
‍– Michael van Niekerk, Co-Founder and Head of Technology, Agri-iO

A Path Forward Wasn’t Obvious

At first, Agri-iO’s approach was to find a replacement OTS solution, but they quickly found that the right solution was hard to come by. Most OTS products they encountered supported C++, not MicroPython, and porting the original code proved to be too timely and costly.

So that left them with one option: designing custom hardware. But this wasn’t as straightforward as it sounded.

For starters, Agri-iO had a two-man technical team. Neither Michael nor Stephan Geldenhuys (another co-founder) had ever designed a PCB before. With no support or experience, the team began exploring design tools to pursue their own custom hardware.

However, they found that the design tools on the market were far from perfect. Some tools proved too expensive for a small startup like Agri-iO to afford. Other free tools proved too cumbersome and difficult to learn in a reasonable time, and they were up against a serious time crunch.

“I considered KiCad and Altium Designer, but Altium was too expensive. KiCad was not easy to use, and we didn’t have time to get past that learning curve. Flux was a few steps ahead in terms of ease of use, so we went with Flux.” – Michael van Niekerk, Co-Founder and Head of Technology, Agri-iO 

The Flux Solution

In their research, Agri-iO came across Flux - and it quickly caught their eye. 

Flux’s free-to-use nature was the first big draw. The company had limited resources, and a thousand-dollar EDA license was not an option. What proved more important, however, was Flux’s ease of use. Not only was Flux browser-based and compatible with any computing platform, but its extensive library of resources made it possible for the team to hit the ground running.

Shortly after finding Flux, the Agri-iO team came across Flux’s design tutorial and project built around Raspberry Pi’s RP2040. Features and Rust support made the RP2040 the perfect microcontroller for Agri-iO’s needs. So, the team simply forked the Flux example project, and they instantly had a major jump start on their custom design.

From there, the team leveraged Copilot’s guidance to fill in the blanks. Copilot helped them by providing example designs, suggesting components and configurations, and answering questions about which pins connected where.

In only a couple of days, Agri-iO went from a blank slate and no experience to a manufacturable custom hardware solution. 

“I used Copilot to ask questions about which pins to connect and to get examples for specific designs. It suggested components and configurations. Copilot reduced the amount of review work needed, and overall, it was a wonderful experience.”
– Michael van Niekerk, Co-Founder and Head of Technology, Agri-iO

Results

Thanks to Flux, Agri-iO successfully fulfilled its existing contracts and has since deployed dozens of units globally. At the beginning of their journey, the Agri-iO team had never designed a single PCB. Today, they’ve designed four custom boards, each of which is deployed in the field and has a major impact on the agricultural industry.  

“Nothing was more satisfying than seeing our system working in the field, and we really have Flux to thank for it all. Now I can’t wait for our next batch of boards to arrive and to start shipping them out.” 
‍– Michael van Niekerk, Co-Founder and Head of Technology, Agri-iO 

Craftsmanship Matters

Steve Jobs once said “...there's just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product.” We agree wholeheartedly.

However, as PCB designers, it’s not always easy to demonstrate the thought and craftsmanship that went into your design. Other EEs might be able to appreciate your effort and understand the inner beauty of your work, but first, they’d need access to your design files and a compatible tool. Non-EEs may not understand the beautiful intricacies of your design, but they can appreciate a good layout and an aesthetically pleasant board.

In either case, we want to help you better demonstrate your craftsmanship. With automatic, realistic 3D renderings of your PCB, Flux is making this a reality.

Taking Pride in Your Work

Flux's new rendering capabilities automatically create the most realistic and beautiful representation of your design possible. No extra effort is needed to master rendering tools, and no experience is necessary. Now, anyone can effortlessly create stunning, dynamic, and professional 3D renders. And since Flux is browser-based and free to use, anyone can access your renders in real-time with just a link.

But why does this reality matter?

• Building an Impressive Portfolio: Whether you’re a student or a professional, a design portfolio is the best way to demonstrate your skills. And, where a design portfolio is all about putting your best foot forward, you need high-quality renderings that capture the beauty of your design.
• Present Your Work to Stakeholders: With just a link, stakeholders can access and view renders of your design directly in their browser. This helps you better convey your design, its unique points, and its value. And since Flux renders are dynamic, viewers can get a real, intuitive understanding of how your design works within a larger system.
• Enhancing Documentation: Realistic, high-quality visuals significantly enhance your team's documentation efforts. There will be no more dissonance between real-life boards and design files. Instead, realistic renders are used as part of the documentation process to align everyone and capture those real-world details.
• Save time: You don't need to spend hours mastering and jumping from tool to tool, with just one click you can share your work.

See how your projects look

We understand that craftsmanship matters, detail counts, and extend that thinking to how you present your work. Login to your account to see how your projects look with the new rendering engine. 🚀

With Flux, this dream is a reality. With Flux Copilot, you can leverage the power of AI to help you test and debug your circuit designs. Here are your steps and how AI can make this process easier.

Functional Testing and Challenges

Functional testing is the process of testing a mass-produced product to ensure that the high-level system functionality meets the design expectations. The goal is to ensure quality, but that’s not always straightforward.

As a functional testing team member, you’re often asked to develop test plans for products you have not designed and, therefore, have no experience with. Generally, you’re handed a set of design files and a product requirement document. Your task is to take that information and develop a thorough test plan to ensure the product meets all its requirements off the production line.  

Generally, the hardest part is becoming familiar enough with the product to develop a comprehensive test plan. Historically, that means dozens of hours spent poring over schematics and layout files. But now, with AI, Flux is changing that narrative entirely.

Generate Thorough Functional Test Plans With AI

With Flux Copilot, generating thorough functional test plans is a breeze. Here is what the process looks like

Step 1: Import Your Design

The process starts by importing your design files and product requirements document into Flux.  Flux is compatible with design files from all of the major EDA tools, including Altium, Cadence, and KiCAD, so you can use Flux without having to change your tools.

Or, if your design is already native to Flux, simply input your product requirements document to get started.

Step 2:  Develop a Plan

Next, you should ask Copilot to help you determine what tests need to be run to ensure proper functionality.

Some of the most important questions to address in a test plan include

• Under what conditions should I perform the test?
• What procedure should I follow during my test?
• What results should I expect?

Copilot helps your team answer all of these questions by developing comprehensive and robust test plans for your design. Simply prompt Copilot with a question like

@copilot Create a comprehensive hardware design test plan for this project for the areas outlined in the testing and validation section. The goal is to ensure all components and circuits function correctly and reliably under specified conditions. Follow the steps:
- Provide a brief summary of the design, including the main functions and critical components of the schematic.
- Detail the requirement of that particular area for the design to work.
- Outline and explain the specific tests needed (with exact tools required where applicable) to verify performance of the hardware design. including test condition and expected behavior.

Step 3: Analyze Design and Test Points

Once you have a test plan, want to ask Copilot to confirm that the current design is accordingly testable. That means ensuring all necessary signals have test points that can be probed in your testing efforts. You can ask Copilot something like

@copilot, clearly list if the right test points are present to fulfill this test plan.

Step 4: Collaborative Debugging

Flux not only streamlines the testing and debugging process but also enhances the way test engineers and designers collaborate on projects.

In the event that the correct test points are not available, you can then use Flux’s collaboration tools. Simply leave a comment in the project file notifying the design owner of what signals need test points. With this kind of in-tool collaboration, everyone on the team can see the correspondence and the Copilot responses that elicited the design update.

By integrating collaboration within the design tool, Flux ensures that all team members have real-time access to test data, design changes, and analytical insights. This seamless integration allows for immediate feedback loops and faster decision-making, which is crucial when addressing complex design challenges

Step 5: Needed Equipment

The final roadblock to fulfilling a testing plan is having the necessary equipment to carry it out. Testing plans often need accompanying testing rigs, which likely necessitate custom PCBs dedicated to these efforts.

Copilot can help by identifying what testing equipment might be necessary and then providing advice on designing that testing rig. Ask Copilot something like

@copilot, what other testing equipment is necessary to carry out this test plan?

If a custom PCB is required, Copilot can help with the process. Check out this design tutorial to learn more about creating custom PCBs with Copilot.

Saving Time and Money

With Flux Copilot, your team can more easily develop comprehensive and thorough test plans that help catch design errors early in the process. This means your team can spend less time correcting errors and less money on unnecessary design revisions. Ultimately, that translates to higher quality products and faster time to market. Want to experience using AI to generate functional test plans? Sign up for Flux today.

Flux's mission is to make hardware design accessible and efficient for everyone. Our powerful AI Copilot acts as your personal design assistant, streamlining the process and allowing you to create sophisticated hardware in a fraction of the time. In this blog, we'll show you how to leverage Flux to design your own AI pin in just a few hours.

Design an AI Pin with Flux: A Step-by-Step Guide

Designing an AI pin would normally take months, but in this project, we did it in hours. In our step-by-step guide, you'll see how Flux can accelerate your design process and bring your AI pin project to life.

Step 1: Choose a Template

Without Flux, a project would need to start from scratch. With Flux, you can kickstart your project by selecting a ready-made template from Flux’s extensive library. These templates provide a solid foundation, allowing you to focus on customizing and refining your design rather than starting from scratch.

Step 2: Architecture Design with Copilot

Next, use Copilot to generate and refine block diagrams. Instead of brainstorming with a team, which you might not have access to, you can use Copilot's conversational interface to ask questions, request changes, and iteratively improve your design until it perfectly suits your project needs.

Step 3: Research and Integrate Components

No more sifting through Mouser or Digi-Key, researching hundreds of components, reading through datasheets one by one. With Copilot's help, find and integrate the best components for your design. Copilot assists in researching part numbers (MPNs) and suggesting optimal components, ensuring your AI pin is built with the best available parts.

Step 4: Generate Netlists and Configure Components

Once parts are selected, it’s time to wire up your schematic. Normally this would require comparing datasheets one by one to figure out interconnections. With Flux, Copilot does all of the heavy lifting for you. Automate netlist generation and component configuration with Copilot’s assistance by having it tell you which pins connect where and even watching it wire up components for you. This step simplifies the intricate process of connecting different parts of your design, allowing you to focus on innovation rather than manual configuration.

Step 5: Design Reviews and Final Layout

Working alone but need another set of eyes to review your project? With AI guidance, you can perform thorough design reviews and finalize your layout. Copilot helps you compare your design to datasheets and common practices, ensuring accuracy and reliability. It also extracts the necessary equations to check your calculations, giving you confidence in your design.

Tutorial and Project Link

Ready to get started? Watch our tutorial video for a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough of the design process. Then, open the example project and follow along to create your own AI pin. You'll see firsthand how Flux and Copilot make hardware design faster, easier, and more fun.

Call to Action

Experience the future of hardware design today. Sign up for Flux, open the project, and start designing your own AI pin. Discover how AI can transform your design process, unlock the power of Copilot, and achieve rapid results.

Join the revolution of AI pins — sign up for Flux and start creating now!

🚀 What is PPS Fast Charging?

PPS (Programmable Power Supply) is an extension of the USB Power Delivery 3.0 (USB PD 3.0) standard, introduced by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) in 2017.

What makes PPS unique? Unlike traditional fast charging that delivers a fixed voltage, PPS dynamically adjusts voltage and current every 10 seconds, based on what your device actually needs at any given moment. This real-time communication between your device and charger leads to:

• Better energy efficiency
• Lower heat generation
• Extended battery lifespan

⚡ PPS vs PD vs Quick Charge: What's the Difference?

PPS (Programmable Power Supply)

• Adjusts voltage in 20mV steps and current in 50mA steps
• Reduces conversion losses and heat buildup
• Great for high-efficiency, high-capacity devices (phones, tablets, laptops)

PD (Power Delivery)

• Offers fixed voltage profiles (5V, 9V, 15V, 20V)
• Can deliver up to 100W of power
• Supported by many USB-C smartphones, tablets, and laptops
• Perfect for Apple®, Samsung®, Google® devices with USB-C

Quick Charge (QC)

• Developed by Qualcomm®
• Powers devices faster using higher voltages (QC 3.0, QC 4+, QC 5)
• QC 3.0: Up to 80% in 35 minutes
• QC 5: Up to 50% in 5 minutes (supports USB PD too!)

📱 Devices That Support PPS

PPS support is becoming more widespread in premium devices. Here are a few well-known examples:

• Samsung Galaxy® S20 / S21 / S22 Series
• Samsung Note® 10 / Note 20
• Google Pixel® 6 and above
• Select laptops (like newer MacBooks and Chromebooks)
• USB PD-compatible power banks and wall chargers

🔌 Commonly Used Chips That Support PPS / PD / QC

Here are some widely used ICs (Integrated Circuits) that power these fast-charging protocols:

Chips for PPS & USB PD and Quick Charge

• STMicroelectronics STUSB4761 – USB Type-C / USB PD controller with PPS support
• Diodes AP33772SDKZ-13-FA01 - USB PD3.1 EPR SINK CONTROLLER with EPR, AVS and PPS support
• ON Semiconductor FUSB302 – USB Type-C controller (often used with a PD PHY)
• Texas Instruments TPS25750 – USB Type-C and PD controller with integrated PPS handling‍
• ON Semiconductor NCP4371 – USB Fast Charging Controller supporting QC 2.0 and 3.0

💡 Final Thoughts

PPS fast charging isn’t just about speed—it’s about smarter, more efficient charging. By dynamically negotiating voltage and current, PPS reduces heat, protects battery health, and delivers a better experience for power users.

If you're designing or sourcing power solutions for modern electronics, make sure your charger and cable support PPS. And if you're a developer, integrating chips like the STUSB4761 or TPS25750 can give your products that next-gen charging edge.

Want help selecting a chip for your power design or building your own PPS-compatible device? Let’s build it together.