Today, we’re excited to share our Summer Update to Flux AI Auto‑Layout, a collection of improvements designed to make one‑click PCB routing more reliable, transparent, and adaptable to your real‑world workflows.
We want to make this process as easy as possible for all Flux users. So, after hundreds of hours of testing and talking to dozens of real users, we’ve put together six prompting tips that will help you get the most out of Copilot. Read on to learn more!
It’s tempting to think that LLMs are able to read our minds, but in practice, that’s far from the truth. While Copilot is surprisingly good at filling in the blanks when you ask it a question, to get the best results, you need to ask the best questions. Imagine you’re onboarding a coworker. The more detail and context you provide the new employee, the faster they’ll get up to speed and the more productive they’ll become.
We want to make this process as easy as possible for all Flux users. So, after hundreds of hours of testing and talking to dozens of real users, we’ve put together six prompting tips that will help you get the most out of Copilot. Read on to learn more!
When it comes to LLMs, what you put in is what you get out. So if you want clear and detailed answers, you need to make sure that you provide Copilot with descriptive prompts. When you let Copilot know your goals, constraints, or more details about what you want to build - it can give better answers.
Here’s an example of a “bad” and “good” version of the same prompt:
Bad:
@copilot what’s the best IMU for this project?
Good:
@copilot can you recommend a suitable IMU for this project? I want to keep overall board power consumption below 1A. This is an automotive design, so all components must also be ASIL-D certified. I’m also on a budget, so the total BOM must be less than $2.00.
The best way to give Copilot context is to use Copilot Presets. A powerful new feature that allows you to declare project requirements like operating temperature, voltage, or compliance standards. They are the go-to way to help Copilot understand the full context of your project.
A good prompt is also specific. Don’t just ask Copilot for help finding a component; tell it what factors it should consider so that it knows your criteria.
Bad:
@copilot review my decoupling capacitors
Good:
@copilot list all ICs and the decoupling capacitors attached to each. Ensure to include all ICs present in the design, including digital ICs, power converters, LDOs, etc. For every IC, clearly state:
• What power net the decoupling capacitors are attached to. What is the stated voltage of that net?
• The voltage rating and value of the attached decoupling capacitors.
Another tip here is to mention components explicitly by their component designator so that Copilot knows exactly which components you’re referring to. For example,
Bad:
@copilot what is the operating voltage of my microcontroller?
Good:
@copilot what is the operating voltage of U1 in my project?
Copilot is a text-based assistant, but that doesn’t limit what kind of responses it can give you. Users can prompt Copilot to respond in a variety of different ways, including tables, LaTeX, code blocks, and markdown formatting.
Also, many users might not know that Copilot can even output files for you—if you know how to ask! For example, you can ask Copilot to produce a CSV of your project BOM for you with a prompt like the following:
@copilot can you generate a BOM for this project in a CSV format?
With unique output formatting, Copilot’s responses can more easily integrate into your workflow.
First off, a good prompt is one that is technically accurate. If your question doesn’t make sense, then the response is likely to be inaccurate as well.
Here’s an example of a technically “bad” and “good” version of the same prompt:
Bad:
@copilot how do I choose the right material for a PCB?
Good:
@copilot what are the key considerations when choosing the right dielectric and stackup for a PCB?
Fortunately, you can also use Copilot’s assistance to gauge whether or not your question is technically accurate, and it’ll help you formulate better questions. To get to the good prompt above, you could ask Copilot
@copilot what are PCBs made out of? What are the materials called and why do they vary?
If you’re still not getting the results you want out of Copilot, we have you covered. We provide users with premade Copilot Shortcuts that are accessible through the Copilot Context Menu. Simply right-click on a component or project and choose the prompt you want to use, knowing that it was engineered for the best results possible.
Some options include:
We recently launched a feature called Copilot Experts, which provides you with a set of specialized AI models, each tailored for distinct aspects of hardware design. You can choose which AI model you want to access based on the task at hand, allowing for a more specialized experience that’s tailored to your needs. Right now, our three Expert models are
• Generalist: This is the default Copilot model that you know and love. He’s a jack of all trades who retains the versatility to do anything you need. Try this prompt:
@copilot how does a CAN transceiver work?
• Librarian: This model excels in parts inquiries and navigates datasheets with ease. The next time you have a question about a part, Librarian has got you covered! For example,
@copilot How do I use U1 as a CAN transceiver?
• Help: This is your go-to for Flux product guidance. Have questions about how to use the tool? Don’t feel like sifting through the documentation? Just ask the Help Expert for the answers. You can ask questions like
@copilot How do I connect U1's ground pins to ground?
For the best results with Copilot, make sure you’re working with the right Expert for the job!
Flux is driven by our community, and that means you have a unique opportunity to help make Copilot even better. We’d love for you to participate in pushing the limits of Copilot and share your findings with the community on what works well. If you discover a prompt that’s really impactful, let us know so that we can share it with everyone!
The best way to get involved is to join our Slack channel and share with our community of 2,000 and growing. Together, we’ll change the future of PCB design!
Imagine blending the intricate world of circuitry with the serene beauty of nature. That's exactly what I've done with Flux’s first collection of wallpapers, designed exclusively for the innovators of our world.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what Steve Jobs did. With the products he created at Apple, he found a way to merge engineering with the humanities. In doing so, he enabled more people to experience and connect with technology. Wow, I thought, This kind of thinking is powerful but overlooked for PCB and electronics design. There is an artistic side that's often overlooked. I wanted to capture the feeling of creation, of invention, in these wallpapers. The goal is to kindle the spark of inspiration and also celebrate the creativity and ingenuity that engineers bring to their work every day.
Each wallpaper was designed with Midjourney. Many iterations of prompt tuning and post processing were required to produce a series that felt right. I wanted to strike a balance between the artificial and natural. And I wanted to inspire with a sense of fantasy while still keeping one foot in the possible. The result is four wallpapers which evoke futurism with the classic forms of the natural world. Brilliant color and glowing light evoke optimism while a shallow depth of field and the dark background evokes an intimacy. These products - or are they organisms - are shot in a reserved style of a professionally photographed object.
For engineers, I hope these wallpapers will be more than just a background for their screens; they'll be a source of daily inspiration. The fusion of a PCB’s precision with the organic form of plants reflects the innovative spirit of engineering. It's a daily reminder of how engineering not only solves practical problems but also creates beauty and harmony.
Ready to bring this unique blend of technology and nature to your workspace? We're excited to share that these exclusive wallpapers come in stunning 4K resolution, ensuring that every detail of the intricate PCB designs is beautifully rendered. And the best part? They are available for both desktop and mobile phones, directly downloadable from this blog post!
In a world where technology often distances us from nature, these wallpapers serve as a beautiful reminder of how the two can coexist harmoniously. They’re more than just decoration; they're a statement of the beauty in engineering and an ode to the creativity that engineers bring to our world.
If these unique PCB plant wallpapers have sparked your interest, share this post with your fellow engineers and designers. Let's spread the word about this innovative blend of technology and nature! And if you have ideas for future designs, we’d love to hear them on our Slack Community.
We’re not just offering a tool; we're building a home where the open-source hardware community can truly flourish. Join us in this exciting journey toward a more collaborative and innovative future.
That's where Flux for Organizations comes in, and we're thrilled to make it free for public and educational organizations. At Flux, we are deeply committed to the belief that open-source hardware will be the vanguard of global innovation. We're here to make it easier for teams worldwide to collaborate and build the future.
Navigating through fragmented resources for reliable component libraries or design rules can be both time-consuming and frustrating. Flux offers a centralized resource hub that brings everything you need right to your fingertips. Component libraries, AI-driven design suggestions via Copilot—you name it, we’ve got it.
Forget the days of email chains filled with zip files that make version control a living nightmare. Flux's built-in version control, Copilot Presets, and Project Templates are designed to make every design iteration transparent, accessible, and most importantly, collaborative. Learn more
The challenge of recruiting incredible talent for open-source projects is real. That's why your organization’s Flux profile does more than just list who's on your team. Use it to highlight community contributions, showcase public projects, and even spotlight the heroes who make your community vibrant. See example
Hardware components come with real costs, which can become prohibitive especially for community-driven projects. With Flux's real-time pricing and availability features, automated email updates on component pricing, and total project cost visibility, you’ll never be in the dark. Learn more
While large hardware firms have resources that smaller, community-driven projects can only dream of, Flux levels the playing field. Our AI assistant, Copilot, brings enterprise-level capabilities right to your desktop, allowing you to compete on a much broader scale. Learn more about Flux Copilot
Whether you're an open-source hardware group, a manufacturer like Aisler sharing stackup templates, or a university showcasing academic projects, we support your collaborative efforts. For those in need of more privacy and customization like Weyland Yutani Megacorp, our paid organizational accounts start at just $49 per editor. Learn more about private organizations
We’re not just offering a tool; we're building a home where the open-source hardware community can truly flourish. Join us in this exciting journey toward a more collaborative and innovative future.
Today, we’re taking collaboration one step further by giving hardware teams a shared virtual space that’s built for innovation. Today, we’re launching Flux for Organizations: a new way for hardware teams to collaborate.
Today, we’re taking collaboration one step further by giving hardware teams a shared virtual space that’s built for innovation. Today, we’re launching Flux for Organizations: a new way for hardware teams to collaborate.
Flux for Organizations is a new suite of capabilities designed to foster a collaborative environment across teams, large or small. At the heart of the feature are
Creating an Organization for your team aligns everyone, ensuring all members share the same default permissions, design rule checks, and Copilot presets for organization-centric AI-design reviews. This unlocks a new level of transparency, alignment, and ease of collaboration.
Creating an organizational account is easy. Just follow these steps:
Want to see a Flux Organization in action? Feel free to check out some of our favorite Flux Organization profiles here:
Imagine designing a PCB in a third less time than you're used to - that's the power of Flux Copilot's new upgrade, allowing it to wire components together for you. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the important workflows and example prompts to help you design a Raspberry-Pi-Pico-like board in 20 minutes.
To put this new feature to the test, we revisited a recent project where we designed a Raspberry-Pi-Pico-like schematic using only AI. Initially, it took us 30 minutes to complete the design using Flux Copilot's advice. With Copilot taking the lead on making connections, the same schematic design was completed in just 20 minutes!
In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the important workflows and example prompts to help you design a Raspberry-Pi-Pico-like board in 20 minutes. Curious about the end result? Take a look at the finished project here.
Using generative AI for PCB design means working at the very edge of current possibilities. This requires a few workflow adjustments to get the most out of it. These are some of the principles we found work particularly well, but we can't wait to hear what you come up with. Let us know in Slack!
Your input and interactions play a significant role in getting the most out of Copilot. Be clear and precise with your objectives, don't hesitate to explore different suggestions, and feel free to give feedback with a thumbs up. We compiled a list of useful prompts if you want to learn more about what Copilot can do.
Go from general to specific. It's much easier to get precise responses when Copilot is provided with more details. You can get those details by first asking more broad questions and use Copilot's response to ask a more detailed question. When you're confident about Copilot's reponse, use the "Take action"button to have Copilot wire the schematics for you.
Use Copilot as a teammate. Depending on the question, it might take Copilot a few seconds to reply. Use that time to focus on other areas of the design, Copilot can answer several questions in parallel.
Without further ado, let's dive into the prompts that made this project happen:.
At the start of your project, you'll need to identify the necessary components. This is a good opportunity to ask more general questions at first and start narrowing down the scope of the project.
For a Raspberry Pi Pico-like board, your interaction with Copilot might look like this:
@copilot what is the minimum set of components I need to make a Raspberry Pi Pico-like board?
Having to sift through datasheets consumes a significant amount of time.
When you find a part in the library that you think might for your design, ask Copilot to verify:
@copilot does this LDO work for powering the RP2040?
If you're not familiar with some of the ICs in your design, you can ask Copilot what other components are required or what a pin is used for:
@copilot how should I connect the shield pin?@copilot what else do I need for the oscillator?@copilot what decoupling capacitors do I need for the RP2040?
Copilot can do the wiring for you and save you precious time. Before you ask Copilot to take action, make sure you provide it with as much information as you can. If a component can be connected in multiple ways (as a flash memory to the RP2040), state your goals clearly.
@copilot how do I connect this flash memory to the RP2040? I want to make sure I can boot from it.
If you take a close look at the final project, you'll notice that these patterns repeat over and over on the different elements. Once you get familiar with this workflow, you'll be designing at a speed only big teams were able to accomplish in the past.
It's an exciting time for PCB design. With this new feature of Flux Copilot, we're not just accelerating the design process but also opening up new possibilities for creativity and innovation. It's like having a skilled coworker by your side, ready to tackle the complex parts so you can focus on the big picture.
We're eager to see what amazing designs you'll create with Flux Copilot. This is just the beginning of a fascinating journey toward a future where AI assists in creating, imagining, and realizing incredible hardware designs. And we're thrilled to be on this journey with you.
Happy designing!
In 2019, we scratched our heads at the current state of hardware tools. Why did they look like they were designed in the 1980s? Ohhhh they were. We asked ourselves... what if we started from scratch? What if designing hardware was seamless, intuitive, even delightful? What if we could automate all the mundane work? That was our dream.
In 2019, we scratched our heads at the current state of hardware tools. Why did they look like they were designed in the 1980s? Ohhhh they were. 😬
We asked ourselves... what if we started from scratch? What if designing hardware was seamless, intuitive, even delightful? What if we could automate all the mundane work? That was our dream.
Fast forward three years, and boom! We opened up to everyone. Since then, the numbers have been wild. Over 100,000 of you have joined, creating a whopping 177,000 projects! And shout out to the 3,200 businesses riding this wave with us. We've even got PCBs designed in Flux going to space soon! 🚀
Let’s take a look back at some of the company’s major highlights that you helped us fulfill!
From the very beginning, we always knew that Flux was only going to be as successful as the community that we built around it. That’s why we started with a private beta: so that we could build a tight-knit community of people who shared the same vision as us as we grew the product. If it weren’t for that group of beta users in the very beginning, we would not be here with you today.
In February 2023, we took our next big step when we emerged from private beta. For the first time ever, anyone in the world was able to test out Flux, and the response was overwhelming. This was our first major step towards our ultimate goal of truly democratizing hardware design for everyone.
We’ve always sought to take the “hard” out of hardware, and it was obvious that existing tools came up short of that vision. We knew we had to think bigger, which is why we came up with Flux Copilot: the industry’s first and only AI PCB design assistant.
When we introduced Copilot, its capabilities were unprecedented, and the response from YOU was fantastic. Over 15,000 users have now worked with Copilot, and it’s tackled a whopping 130,000 questions.
But we didn't stop there. Copilot evolved to not just provide feedback but to take action for you. With Copilot’s ability to wire up schematics for you, users were finally able to avoid the tedium of wiring schematics and spend more time on what really matters. We want to put the magic back in hardware design, and generative AI with Copilot has been one huge step toward that goal.
Meet Gerald, a software engineer behind Vendo King Manila, a vending machine business in the Philippines. Before Flux, he struggled with jumbled boards and too many jumper wires. With no prior PCB design experience, Gerald dived into Flux and crafted his own board. He says, “With Flux, I made our PCB easily. No more wire mess or production problems!” That's a big win! 🚀
Then there's Robert, a software engineer who loves computers, old-school games, web development, and 3D printing. He's the guy behind ControllerAdapter.com, making cool stuff for game controller fans. Thanks to Flux, Robert easily designs and shares his creations.
Looking back at the last four years, it’s amazing to see how far this community has come together.
While what we’ve done has been transformative, what’s really exciting are the infinite possibilities that lie ahead of us. We’re currently exploring the very edge of AI's capabilities in hardware design, and who better to do it with than our incredible community?
We have some exciting things planned for the future, and one thing is for sure: the best has yet to come.
If you want to help Flux continue to grow and change hardware design, tell your friends about us! Let them know about Flux and encourage them to sign up and get involved.
