Qplayer

Published

March 14, 2023

Written by

Sergiy Nesterenko

Founder and CEO

Read the Full Series

This article is one part of a walkthrough detailing how we recreated an NXP i.MX 8M Mini–based computer using Quilter’s physics-driven layout automation.

Overview: Project Speedrun

Part 1: Preparing the Design

Part 2: Compiling the Design

Part 3: Cleaning Up the Design

Part 4: Testing & Validation

Quilter is home to a number musicians and audio engineers. It was only a matter of time before we decided to start building audio boards.

Our first venture into audio boards is an MP3 player shield. This board loads an MP3 file stored on an SD card, generates stereo audio and amplifies it to drive speakers (or a line-out).

This board is based on the Adafruit Music Maker MP3 Shield With Stereo Amp.

Our input files for Quilter are here.

The Quilter generated output is here.

We coupled this board with our Quilter designed Arduino Uno. The script to drive this board is here.

Try Quilter for Yourself

Project Speedrun demonstrated what autonomous layout looks like in practice and the time compression Quilter enables. Now, see it on your own hardware.

Get Started

Validating the Design

With cleanup complete, the final question is whether the hardware works. Power-on is where most electrical mistakes reveal themselves, and it’s the moment engineers are both nervous and excited about.

Continue to Part 4

Cleaning Up the Design

Autonomous layout produces a complete, DRC'd design; cleanup is a brief precision pass to finalize it for fabrication.

Continue to Part 3

Compiling the Design

Once the design is prepared, the next step is handing it off to Quilter. In traditional workflows, this is where an engineer meets with a layout specialist to clarify intent. Quilter replaces that meeting with circuit comprehension: you upload the project, review how constraints are interpreted, and submit the job.

Continue to Part 2