Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1536171
8 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2025 The Shaughnessy Report Feature Column by Andy Shaughnessy, I-CONNECT007 Designers don't like autorouters, period. In my 26 years of covering PCB design and EDA tools, I've met about 25 designers who admit to using autorouters regularly. Two of these, Barry Olney and Stephen Chavez, have articles in this issue. If experts like these use routers, why haven't you tried one? I've heard dozens of reasons why designers don't like routers, but here are the top five: • "I just can't get autorouters to do what I want them to do." • "In the time it takes to set up an autorouter properly, I can manually route the board." • "Clean-up takes longer than actual routing." • "I just don't trust them." • "Autorouters make your design look like [#&$%]." at last one might be Number 1. Colum- nist Kelly Dack says that upon seeing certain boards, he has been known to exclaim, "Ewww, that board was autorouted." Even EDA companies will admit that auto- routers used to be clunky and inefficient. But a lot has happened since Cooper & Chyan Technology launched Specctra, the first grid- less router, in 1989. It was the first shape-based autorouter, and it revolutionized the auto- router segment. Cadence Design Systems acquired CCT in 1997 and integrated the Specctra gridless auto- router into its Allegro tool. Other soware companies soon followed suit with their own gridless routers, and a lot of industry watchers thought the day of the autorouter had arrived. Planning Your Best Route