Conversion Process for Legacy Stable Based Printed Circuit Board Atrwork

Master artwork for Air Force systems is traditionally delivered on polyester-based mylar film. This film tends to degrade over time, even when stored in climate-controlled facilities. In addition, drawings must be digitized before circuit boards can be manufactured, which is an expensive and time consuming step. A reliable and repeatable artwork conversion process is needed.This project will perform the research required to assemble a PCB artwork conversion system, which can digitize Mylar based drawings. The digital files created wil be in Gerber format, which is generally the format needed for printed circuit board manufacture. The system will utilize commercial off the shelf (COTS) components wherever possible. By using COTS components, system cost, maintenance, and upgrade costs will be minimized.Deliverables from this program will include an analysis of potential COTS hardware and software, which could be integrated to from an accurate, repeatable system for digitizing Mylar drawings. Sources for software and hardware, a comparison of each product's capabilities and limitations, and the tolerances for each potential configuration will be documented. Finally, each potential vendor will be sent a 'C' size Mylar drawing, and their generated Gerber files will be evaluated to determine the capability of each system.