We chose to base our System-on-Module (SOM) + baseboard designs on the NXP i.MX 8M Mini evaluation platform Staff Electrical Engineer Ben Jordan prepared the design and constraints for the boards and submitted the jobs. Quilter ran parallel seeded runs with varied constraints, completing the layout in 27 hours, returning multiple ranked candidates.
Quilter took care of the repetitive design work while the engineer stayed in control. Automation handled placement, routing, and physics checks, freeing him to focus on firmware prep, documentation, and constraint refinement. Common supply-chain hiccups—a few connectors out of stock and a Wi-Fi module dropped—were resolved instantly, with no delay to iteration. Cleanup was minimal: PDN pours, via clusters, and minor footprint swaps—no rip-ups, no re-spins.
AFAICT the tool routed the PCB from an existing schematic. It did not "design" the computer.
NXP publishes full schematics and CAD files for this platform, originally designed in Cadence Allegro. Our goal was to keep the schematic identical and prove out only the layout portion with Quilter. That gave us a clear baseline: if the board didn't work, it would be due to our layout.
1. A schematic of a reference design with all components specified, and a library of components with correct footprints.
2. A block diagram with the major components, but nothing too specific. Free reign of Digikey.com.
3. "Computer, make me a linux board, and make it snappy!"
(I think 1 is closest)