This lesson plan guides students through the complete lifecycle of a printed circuit board (PCB) design using Altium Designer 2026. Students will design a real-world PCB using the Silicon Labs EFM8BB52F32I-C-QFN32 microcontroller to drive an RGB LED with software PWM for full-color control, including gamma-corrected dimming. The firmware was developed in Keil C51 (C89/C90) using Simplicity Studio 5.
The design scenario simulates a real customer engagement: the customer requires a board that exposes all processor pins to an external connector, provides USB-C power, includes the RGB LED demonstration, and fits within a customer-defined mechanical enclosure.
Target Audience: EE/CSE students at RPI.
Prerequisites: Basic circuit theory, introductory digital logic, familiarity with C programming.
Software Required: Altium Designer 2026 (licensed through RPI), SolidWorks, Simplicity Studio 5.
Before any design work begins, each student must have a working installation of Altium Designer 2026 with an active license.
Altium is FREE for all college students. Sign in and download using your RCS ID.
Contact the RPI EE department IT coordinator or check the university software portal for educational licensing.
Download and install Altium Designer 2026 from the Altium website using RPI credentials.
Sign in to your Altium account. The license validates online. If the campus uses an on-premises license server, configure it under licensing settings.
Launch Altium Designer to confirm no license errors.
A PCB project in Altium is the top-level container that holds all design files: schematics, the PCB layout, libraries, output files, and documentation.
Our customer wants a PCB using the EFM8BB52F32I at 5.0V, exposing all GPIO pins to an external header, with an RGB LED for PWM color demonstration, powered via USB-C, and fitting a customer-provided mechanical enclosure.