In this post, we’ll show you exactly how to unlock the power of Flux Copilot for yourself: from writing rock-solid triggers to scoping entries at the project, user, and system levels.
We're excited to reveal a major upgrade - Flux Copilot is transitioning from being a helpful guide to a proactive partner. It no longer just advises but, with your approval, can now wires components together! This is a small step towards fully generative AI, reducing the time and complexity often associated with component connections.
Last month we launched Flux Copilot, the industry’s first AI-powered hardware design assistant integrated into a PCB design tool. The innovative ways in which you’ve employed it to brainstorm, debug, conduct part research, and answer project-specific queries have truly amazed us. To celebrate this, we've compiled a page featuring all our favorite Flux Copilot prompts.
Today, we're excited to reveal a major upgrade - Flux Copilot is transitioning from being a helpful guide to a proactive partner. It no longer just advises but, with your approval, can now wires components together! This is a small step towards fully generative AI, reducing the time and complexity often associated with component connections.
Imagine working on a complex electronic circuit project, only to realize that you're not entirely sure how to connect the components. With the upgraded Flux Copilot, you can now simply ask,
@copilot, how would I connect these parts to make the LED flash at 1kHz?
Instead of just providing advice, Flux Copilot gives you the option to wire it up for you, saving you significant time and reducing the tedious parts of the hardware design process.
Dealing with a complex circuit and unsure about connecting components such as the RP2040 and SPI TFT LCD? No need to spend hours poring over datasheets to figure out which pins are capable of what. Simply ask,
@copilot, how should I connect U1 and U2?
where U1 and U2 are reference designators (REFDES) of RP2040 and TFT LCD in the schematic editor, respectively.
Just watch as Copilot smartly wires up your components in the schematic editor. Discover how to construct an RPi-pico-like board in just 20 minutes using Flux Copilot in this tutorial!
High-speed design is often a daunting domain, requiring specialized knowledge. There are a whole host of these requirements that make impedance control difficult to implement. Flux Copilot makes it as straightforward as any other design. Ask,
@copilot, how would I connect these two HDMI connectors as a pass through?
and allow Flux Copilot to establish the advised connections. Then, route your high-speed traces as usual. Flux takes care of all impedance control and calculations, allowing you to concentrate on the broader design. Learn more about high speed design with Flux.
To make the most of Flux Copilot, remember these key tips:
This is just one small step towards our vision of taking the hard out of hardware, and we couldn’t do it without your participation and feedback. We’re particularly excited about empowering individuals to iterate faster with Flux Copilot, using it like a senior electrical engineer that’s always there to brainstorm solutions, debug circuits, and discuss challenges with you.
We can't wait for you to experience the new and improved Flux Copilot and discover the difference it can make in your projects. Please let us know if you have any feedback or questions on Slack.
We're excited to see the incredible designs you create!
Best,
Matthias Wagner
Effortlessly enhance your electronic product development with Flux Copilot, the innovative design assistant by Flux. With features like schematic feedback, component selection, and design analysis, Flux Copilot leverages the power of AI to accelerate innovation, save costs, and avoid mistakes in your PCB design process.
In this blog post, we will explore the revolutionary features and insights offered by Flux Copilot, showcasing how it can transform hardware design and empower engineers to create innovative and reliable electronic products.
Since Flux Copilot lives in your comments, it’s a truly collaborative tool. By simply asking Flux Copilot for information through a text interface, designers gain access to an endless wealth of knowledge to assist in the design process. The result is that the barrier to entry for hardware designs has been significantly reduced, allowing engineers to produce higher quality hardware designs in shorter amounts of time and at less cost than ever before.
Like a personal design expert at your disposal, Flux Copilot is meant as a tool to augment the hardware design experience of the Electrical Engineer. The LLM does not guarantee 100% accuracy in its responses at the time of launch, so Flux Copilot is to be viewed as a guide for the designer and not as a substitute for the designer’s judgment or expertise.
At the heart of Flux Copilot is a Flux-trained large language model (LLM) that resides within your project, providing a wide array of functionalities to assist engineers in their design process. Copilot can be queried through comments or chat, offering a convenient and intuitive way to interact with the AI-powered assistant. Let's take a closer look at some of the capabilities of Flux Copilot:
The integration of Flux Copilot into the hardware design process offers several benefits that can revolutionize the way engineers approach their designs. Let's take a look at some of the key benefits of using Flux Copilot:
Beyond its purpose for professional Electrical Engineers, Flux Copilot also opens up educational opportunities for different groups of users such as students and Operations Engineers. For example, an Operations Engineer can improve their productivity by asking Flux Copilot “Please find me a drop-in replacement for component U1”. A student can use Flux Copilot to learn circuit design principles by asking “Please explain the function of U1 in this circuit.”
Like with any other tool, mastering Copilot takes some practice. To get the most relevant and valuable suggestions, make sure you follow these best practices:
"What components do I need to connect a 30w speaker to this U1?"
"Are there any alternatives to this part that have better availability?"
"I have U1 with these pins and these other parts - how do I connect them?"
"Have I connected things correctly?"
"Do I really need this resistor? I'm trying to save money. Are there cheaper versions of the components I'm using?"
"How much power does this IC can deliver?"
Flux Copilot, the industry's first AI-powered hardware design assistant integrated into a PCB design tool, offers a wide array of capabilities that can revolutionize the way engineers approach hardware design. With its ability to understand schematic designs, component lists, connections, and part information from datasheets, Copilot can provide valuable insights, suggestions, and feedback to streamline the design process, optimize designs, and enhance overall efficiency. From generating new ideas and exploring design options to validating calculations, offering tailored suggestions, and simplifying procurement, Copilot can empower engineers to create innovative and reliable electronic products. With its integration with Flux's community-created parts and components library and its ability to facilitate collaboration, Copilot is a game-changer in the field of hardware design. Embracing the power of AI in hardware design through Flux Copilot can unlock new possibilities, accelerate innovation, and drive the advancement of the electronics industry.
Ready to experience the power of Flux Copilot? Head to the Flux Copilot documentation page to learn more about its features, functionalities, and how to integrate it into your workflow.
The process of creating symbols is often too rigid and tedious to create schematics that are beautiful. That’s why, today, we’re introducing parametrically programmable schematic symbols in Flux.
That’s why, today, we’re introducing parametrically programmable schematic symbols in Flux.
In modern EDA tools, creating schematics and symbols entails a manual process of drawing rectangles, squares, and lines with a mouse and cursor. Too often, we fight with symbols because they’re so hard to modify. It can feel impossible to create any sort of sane signal convention. Interconnections and signal flow ultimately devolve into lines leaving your symbol’s pins in seemingly random order and direction. How is anyone supposed to make sense of these schematics?
Flux's parametric symbols change how we view schematic symbols by offering you customization and flexibility. With parametric symbols, your team can better organize your schematic symbols by grouping pins based on functionality and logical connection, without needing to physically draw the symbol. Want all GPIO to be grouped together? Maybe you want all power pins to be on the left side of the symbol? Or, do you want all ADC channel pins to be next to each other?
Parametric symbols enable your team to make designs organized and readable. The result is a symbol that isn’t just a square with some lines, it’s a neatly organized, clearly partitioned set of functions that can be easily interpreted by anyone on the team and beyond. Don’t fight with rigid symbols. Instead, organize your symbol as you want, make the signal flow clear and intuitive, and end up with a schematic design that is simple to understand.
Parametric symbols also introduce unprecedented levels of flexibility and customization. Unlike conventional symbols that need to be completely redrawn by hand if changes are desired, parametric symbols are configurable on the fly. No more hassle and wasted time using a drawing tool to rearrange pins.
At Flux, we believe your design should be declarative, not imperative. You should tell your symbols how they could behave - not the other way around. Parametric symbols are our first step in realizing this reality.
Creating parametric symbols in Flux is as simple as filling out property fields in the Inspector Panel. 4 properties determine how the symbol arranges itself:
Once the symbol is created, it can be changed easily by redefining properties to your liking. That means that symbols are dynamic and configurable with little to no effort and wasted time.
To learn more about how to work with parametric symbols in Flux, check out the documentation page.
Parametric symbols are our first step towards a truly declarative workflow with Flux. Soon, you will find declarative workflows integrated into every feature, including the PCB Editor.
Want to learn more about how to start using parametric symbols in Flux? Contact sales today.
We’re excited to announce our partnership with Ultra Librarian to bring millions of high quality and trustworthy components directly to the Flux ecosystem. This partnership marks a big step towards bringing together all semiconductor manufacturers, distributors, engineers, and the whole hardware industry.
Ultra Librarian is the biggest name in the electronic components sector, boasting a repository of millions of parts from diverse manufacturers. Their commitment to maintaining an up-to-date and accessible library for PCB designers aligns perfectly with our goal to offer an efficient, user-friendly design experience. With Ultra Librarian providing access to the world’s largest online electronic component CAD library, Flux users are assured virtually unlimited access to any component they might need, directly published and accessible in real-time within the Flux platform.
Our decision to partner with Ultra Librarian was heavily influenced by the feedback from our community. You want more, high-quality, and trustworthy components available in the Flux library. So, we knew we had to do something big.
Gopu Achath, VP of Technology for Ultra Librarian, emphasizes the importance of fostering this partnership to help drive the industry forward,
“The collaboration between Ultra Librarian and Flux plays a crucial role in the evolution of electronic design. We're enthusiastic about contributing to the dynamic evolution of the CAD design space as Flux endeavors to streamline and digitize the experience. Ultra Librarian continues to lead the charge ensuring CAD models remain easily accessible across various platforms.”
Together with Ultra Librarian, we’re going to be gradually bringing all of Ultra Librarian’s manufacturers into the Flux ecosystem.
We’re starting to roll out the Ultra Librarian partnership with Monolithic Power Systems (MPS), a leader in all things related to power and semiconductors. Users will now have access to over 3,500 of the company’s parts for immediate use in their designs, as well as MPS-created reference designs for inspiration. To use MPS’s parts, simply search for Monolithic Power Systems in the component library and drop them onto your canvas.
You can also follow MPS’ Organization page to get updates for new components, references designs, and other useful materials. Here are some example MPS reference designs that you can fork in Flux today!
Following MPS, we’ll be bringing on many more of Ultra Librarian’s brands into our tool so users can access the same benefits from their favorite manufacturers.
This partnership brings the Flux community unprecedented advantages allowing engineers to interact directly with their favorite manufacturers from their Organization page, including parts, reference designs, and modules.
This partnership marks a big step towards bringing together all semiconductor manufacturers, distributors, engineers, and the whole hardware industry. We envision a future where designers and manufacturers can collaborate, where designers can find reliable, high-quality electronic components, and teams can create innovative hardware. This collaboration is a significant step towards that future.
We want to hear from you! What’s the next manufacturer you want to see brought into the Flux Library? Let us know by filling out this survey!
We couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead!
Your team is burning time and money each time a new project begins. At Flux, we’re changing that. The New Project Launcher helps your team improve efficiency by surfacing existing templates which simplify DFM and reduce mistakes. Reduce risk, increase speed, all in a day’s work.
Your team is burning time and money each time a new project has to start from scratch. The New Project Launcher is changing that by offering a selection of pre-existing templates to choose from every time you start a new project. Templates can be anything created and shared inside of Flux, whether it comes from the Flux community, your favorite manufacturer, or just from within your organization. Here are some of our favorite templates that you’ll have access to from the Launcher to get a faster and more informed start:
The New Project Launcher embodies our philosophy of collaboration by making it incredibly simple to leverage the work of peers, experts, and industry leaders. Whether you're seeking inspiration, aiming for compliance with organizational standards, or looking to adopt best practices, these templates guide you toward a successful project from the outset.
No matter who you are, if you’re involved in hardware, you can benefit from the New Project Launcher.
Engineers gain the advantage of speed by starting projects with templates that encapsulate years of expertise and tested designs, directly from manufacturers or seasoned professionals. This means less time deliberating over the basics and more time refining and innovating.
Managers and stakeholders can find value in the distribution of best practices and standards, ensuring their teams operate cohesively, risks are minimized, and projects are propelled forward with proven methodologies. That means less risk of errors and faster times to market.
Manufacturers have the opportunity to amplify their reach and influence by making their reference designs readily available to the community. By driving the adoption of their hardware and simplifying the design-for-manufacture (DFM) process, manufacturers can help the world innovate. Learn more.
Anyone can create and distribute templates easily and limit access for just yourself, your team, or publish to the entire Flux community. Learn more about creating and publishing templates.
The introduction of the New Project Launcher is part of our commitment to simplifying the design process and reshaping the landscape of hardware design. Ultimately, though, this feature is for you, the builders, the dreamers, and the innovators.
Your engagement and feedback are what drive us forward. We invite you to explore the New Project Launcher, build on the collective wisdom of the Flux community, and contribute your own insights. Together, let's push the boundaries of what's possible in hardware design.
Today, we’re announcing Flux Enterprise, a new plan that allows enterprise hardware teams to leverage AI to iterate faster, streamline processes, mitigate risks, and enhance team efficiency. With Flux Enterprise, we’re finally bringing AI to hardware teams at enterprise companies with Flux Copilot.
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80% of Fortune 500 companies already have employees using AI like ChatGPT for their everyday work and we’ve all seen how LLMs have been leveraged to write code. But, what about designing and building hardware?
We believe LLMs will revolutionize every step of the hardware development process from initial brainstorming all the way through production. From talking with dozens of enterprise customers across the industry, we’ve learned that you are also excited to leverage AI to streamline tedious tasks, access organization-wide knowledge, reduce design risks, and ultimately ship innovative products faster.
We also learned that enterprise customers are concerned about the security aspects of using an AI platform for hardware development. They want enterprise-grade security, privacy, and white-glove onboarding support. That’s why, today, we’re excited to be launching Flux for the Enterprise!
With Flux Enterprise, we’re finally bringing AI to hardware teams at enterprise companies with Flux Copilot. What is Flux Copilot? It’s conversational AI that lives in your project to augment your design workflow. Think of it like a senior EE that’s always available for you, 24/7.
What makes Flux Copilot different than generic LLMs like ChatGPT is that it has direct knowledge of your project’s bill of materials, netlist connections, datasheets, engineering knowledge, project requirements, and can even understand images like plots, charts, and technical diagrams - and that’s just the beginning.
Since we launched Copilot last year, it has been used by thousands of hardware teams to build PCBs for everything from industrial IoT to boards used in space! Some of our favorite enterprise use cases for Copilot include:
Whatever your use case may be, there’s no doubt that it can improve your hardware workflow to save your organization time and money.
With Flux Enterprise, we’ve taken the power of Flux Copilot and Flux Organizations and optimized them for the needs of the enterprise world. We’re augmenting our tool with white-glove onboarding support and a slew of new, advanced security features including:
We even generate SOC1 and SOC2 type 2 reports annually, so enterprises have transparency into the security measures protecting their work. The Flux Enterprise tier also allows us to support your specific needs.
We have an ambitious vision for Flux Copilot to unlock the vast human potential that is currently constrained by today’s EDA tools. We’re looking to partner with enterprise customers who are as excited as we are about pushing the boundaries of AI-driven hardware development.
