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I designed a board with 512 latching relays and uC + shift registers to allow changing each relay from NO to NC, or NC to NO, individually. I had the end user wire up several relays on protoboard to make sure the design was working. Now I find out that diodes need to be added for additional isolation when larger quantities are added. That's another 1024 components to add.

I would like to design just 1 row of the 16 relays across array, add the diodes, do the placement, and then copy that row 32 times, then reconnect the control signals.

Is there a way to duplicate the schematic & placement so I'm not stuck dragging relays & diodes for days on end? That was tedious enough when I did the design with just the relays.

Thanks

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  • \$\begingroup\$ 512 relays? Have you even estimated how heavy your board is going to be? \$\endgroup\$
    – Eugene Sh.
    Commented May 3, 2018 at 17:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ They are small telecom type relays, weight is not a concern. Board is to run unpowered after the latched relays are set up. \$\endgroup\$
    – CrossRoads
    Commented May 3, 2018 at 17:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ I had to do a "diet" version of that with 48 similar blocks, what I did was write a small python script to copy component placement and polygons, vias, etc, but it was quite an ugly solution, I think I still did part of the routing by hand. \$\endgroup\$
    – Wesley Lee
    Commented May 3, 2018 at 17:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sounds like I am stuck copying the schematic, and then placing all the parts again. That was so tedious. And then hand routing it all again as it was too much for Eagle to autoroute. \$\endgroup\$
    – CrossRoads
    Commented May 3, 2018 at 17:37

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