Shaping a PCB in MCAD

To give the board to the mechanical engineer, go to the MCAD CoDesigner panel, click the Push button.

Fig. 1 - Altium downloads page — **Fig. 1 -** Locate the **Panels** button

Fig. 2 - Installation wizard — **Fig. 2 -** Select **MCAD CoDesigner**

Fig. 3 – Launching the plugin — **Fig. 3** - The **Push** button on the MCAD CoDesigner panel

Specify a comment, click Send to share.

Fig. 4 - Altium CoDesigner in the menu bar — **Fig. 4** - Type in comment and **Send**

NOTE: If your mechanical engineer is not invited to the workspace, the administrator can invite them by specifying their email address.

At this stage, the mechanical engineer can already start their work in their MCAD system. Click the Pull button in the Altium CoDesigner panel.

Fig. 6 - Altium CoDesigner in the menu bar — **Fig. 6** - The **Pull** button on the MCAD CoDesigner panel

After selecting a project and saving it, an identical PCB will appear in the working window of the MCAD system.

Fig. 7 - Altium CoDesigner in the menu bar — **Fig. 7** - Select a project

An initial sketch that previously formed a board shape can be safely removed.

OFFSET: the offset entities tool can help to create an appropriate gap between the board and the enclosure in just a few clicks.

Fig. 9 - MCAD CoDesigner panel in Inventor — **Fig. 9** - **Offset Entities** button on the ribbon

HOLE: the hole tool is used to create mounting holes allowing you to set any desired whole size.

Fig. 10 - Select a project — **Fig. 10** - **Hole Wizard** button on the ribbon

CUTOUT: first, create a new sketch on the board surface and then apply the extruded cut tool.

Fig. 11 - Select a location to save the project — **Fig. 11** - **Extruded Cut** button on the ribbon

When it is ready to transfer back to the electrical engineer, use the Push button in the Altium CoDesigner panel, specify a comment and upload it to the server, updating the board.

Fig. 12 - Leave a comment and share the project — **Fig. 12** - **Push** from the MCAD CoDesigner panel

The mechanical engineer will be notified about the changes in the MCAD CoDesigner panel, to either view the proposed changes or discard them.

Fig. 13 - Settings to allow 3D copper and vias — **Fig. 13** - Notification on MCAD side

When they click on view changes, a list with each design change made is shown on the screen.

Every single change can be seen in a live preview and if it is wrong it can be disabled without affecting other changes

Fig. 14 - Top of MCAD CoDesigner panel in SOLIDWORKS — **Fig. 14** - List of changes from the ECAD side

After accepting the selected changes the PCB acquires the exact look that the mechanical engineer has set.

Recommended Documentation: Making Changes to the PCB Design in MCAD

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