Midterm Assessment
Overview
The midterm test is a closed book assessment, so I can’t really say much about it. That being said, what I can tell you, is that it has two parts. The first is a multi choice questionaire (which is pretty easy), and the second is a timed PCB routing assessment. You will get ~3.5 hours to route a PCB. Last semester students were given the schematic file, but before that you had to do the schematic yourself as well.
I recently tried doing the altium test myself just to see how hard it was and how long it took. It took me about two and a half hours (including making the schematic, which took me about 40 minutes). I did not find it particularly hard knowing what I know now, but I did find it difficult back when I took it as a student.
What you should know
While I am not allowed to tell you much about it, here is a list of statements I can make.
- You will need to construct a board outline that actually cuts out the board at the right distance from the edge. You should know how to do that.
- The board you will make is small and dense, get good at routing in tight spaces.
- On the smallest track size, it is possible to route between the pads of most of the resistors and capacitors.
- This assignment has been basically the same for the past few years.
What we meen by “horizontally aligned” or “vertically aligned”
This _can be confusing because you use the “align horizontal centers” tool to make things “vertically aligned” and vice versa. Many people have been confused by this.