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Is there any usable program that could help me organize elements on PCB breadboards? Or maybe some kind of autorouter?

By PCB breadboard I mean something like this:

enter image description here

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    \$\begingroup\$ I can think of a workaround, turn each of the breadboard connections that needs to be made into an eagle part (or your CAD program of choice) and then use the built-in autorouter. I doubt you're going to find any that work directly on stripboards. \$\endgroup\$
    – NickHalden
    May 9, 2012 at 20:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ This is a really good question! \$\endgroup\$
    – Rocketmagnet
    May 9, 2012 at 21:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ Autorouters on PCBs are the devil. The thought of making breadboards even worse breaks my heart. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kortuk
    May 10, 2012 at 8:19
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    \$\begingroup\$ Design a veroboard/stripboard layout from an Eagle schematic \$\endgroup\$
    – Toby Jaffey
    May 10, 2012 at 8:42

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Have you tried VeeCad?

The screenshots/examples on the web page make it look as if it is limited to board with horizontal strips. But according to the feature matrix, it does "[c]ustom track patterns, including SMD components."

Googling around, I found this screenshot of a custom board layout being used in VeeCad (see below).

Another possibility is DIY Layout Creator. This is multi-platform freeware program (GPLv3 license).

Image of Veecad output in simulation case.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ try to keep links hidden, I have edited your post as an example and made the picture inline. Now if your picture link dies the post will still have it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kortuk
    May 10, 2012 at 8:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Kaz - What do all of the isolated traces on the right do in your example circuit? \$\endgroup\$
    – Kevin Vermeer
    May 10, 2012 at 13:36
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    \$\begingroup\$ This is not my circuit; I found this screenshot of a VeeCad window in a search for evidence that custom boards can be represented in the program, not only the simple strip boards shown in the screenshots on the home page. VeeCad is a program for laying components on a pre-manufactured PCB, not for routing custom copper between components. The traces are isolated because they are part of a predefined template. They are sitting there waiting for components to be hooked up, which might never happen. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kaz
    May 10, 2012 at 15:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @xx77aBs Kortuk? LOL \$\endgroup\$
    – Kaz
    May 10, 2012 at 20:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Kaz: lol sorry man, I don't know how I've written your name wrong :) Thank you :D \$\endgroup\$
    – xx77aBs
    May 11, 2012 at 0:30
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I don't know of any tailored solution, but I have a workaround/trick that generally makes it a lot easier to design stripboard layouts.

  1. Configure your software package to use traces the same width as your stripboard tracks.
  2. Set up minimum component and trace proximity to be about 1.5 times the width of the gap between tracks.
  3. If possible, force the routing to only use horizontal and vertical traces. This will remove those pesky 45° traces that can't actually be reproduced on a stripboard, which makes things a whole lot easier later on.
  4. If your software supports it, use the autoplacement feature.
  5. Move components around to be in a direction that can be used on a stripboard, e.g. make ICs run vertical, not horizontal. If you can snap components to a grid, it's very useful to do so as it essentially enforces the components to sit in fake tracks.
  6. Run the auto-routing.
  7. Manually translate the resulting routes into a stripboard design.

This process does a lot of the work for you. It's been pretty useful to me when prototyping larger circuits.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks, I'll try it out if VeeCad doesn't meet my requirements ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – xx77aBs
    May 10, 2012 at 16:26
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No, without some real work-around as JGord suggested. However the PCB software can help you place the parts in an intelligent way by showing the "rats nest" of connections as you place them.

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There are two conflicting requirements here:

  1. Autorouting
  2. Breadboards

Basically, everyone (company, person, etc...) who has enough money to afford an autorouter is not going to bother with breadboards at all. As such, there is no incentive to bother designing such a product.

So basically, unless it's part of an open source project (of which I don't exactly have a high opinion), the answer is no.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Kaz has suggested that I try VeeCad. VeeCad works with breadboards and has autorouter ... \$\endgroup\$
    – xx77aBs
    May 11, 2012 at 9:10

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