app

Adom Desktop - Fusion 360 Bridge

Public Made by Adom

by adom

Drive Autodesk Fusion 360 from the cloud via Adom Desktop: component libraries, IPC package generation, board layout, exports (STEP/Gerbers/BOM/CPL), fast APS cloud search, and parametric modeling.

fusion360autodeskcadpcbexportsapsmodeling
Overview Files Skills Discover Packages Releases Dependencies Issues4 Breadcrumbs Pull Requests Activity
adom-desktop-fusion-bridge / skills / fusion-electronics / SKILL.md
Download

name: fusion-electronics description: How to drive Fusion 360 Electronics (the EAGLE-based schematic + PCB editor) through the Adom Fusion bridge - the file hierarchy (open the PROJECT, never the schematic/.brd/3D), switching between schematic / 2D board / 3D PCB views, and moving the editor for demos and screen recordings (zoom, pan, frame a region, orbit the 3D board, select parts, surface the properties panel). Read before opening or recording any PCB. Trigger words - fusion electronics, fusion pcb, open the board, open the schematic, fusion_show_2d_board, fusion_show_3d_board, eagle editor, zoom the board, pan the board, orbit the 3d pcb, select a part, properties panel, record the schematic, record the board, board out of date, empty 2d board, EcadDesignProductType, parent child electronics design.

Fusion Electronics - drive the schematic, board, and 3D PCB

1. ALWAYS open the PROJECT, never a child file

A Fusion electronics design is NOT one file. It is a parent/child chain of separate files, each a distinct productType:

PROJECT        EcadDesignProductType    <- OPEN THIS ONE
  |- schematic   SchematicProductType
  |- board/.brd  BoardProductType
  |- 3D PCB      DesignProductType        (generated FROM the .brd - the LEAF; opening it gives NO editable board)
  • Open the PROJECT with fusion_open_cloud_file / fusion_open_by_urn. Then the schematic and board are children you switch between - they are VIEWS of the one design, not separate things to open.
  • Opening a schematic / .brd / 3D directly gives an isolated or empty view, and you cannot derive the board from the 3D (it is the leaf). The open verbs reprimand you in the response _hint when the opened file is not EcadDesignProductType - read it and reopen the project.
  • Same-named copies in OTHER projects (e.g. a drone assembly that imported the board) are usually 3D-model derivatives (DesignProductType), not the project. Do not open those.
  • An EMPTY 2D board (fusion_board_info returns 0 elements) almost always means you opened the wrong file. Reopen the parent PROJECT and switch to its board.

2. Switch between the views

The design is open; switch the LIVE editor between its three views with the symmetric trio:

  • fusion_show_schematic - the schematic (circuit diagram). Uses Fusion's SwitchSchDocCmd.
  • fusion_show_2d_board - the 2D PCB Editor (board layout / copper). SwitchPcbDocCmd.
  • fusion_show_3d_board - the populated 3D PCB. Switch3dPcbDocCmd.

All three move the VISIBLE editor (not just the API's active doc), so they're what you use to set up a recording of a given view. Schematic queries also run via the Electron.sch_* text commands. These are VIEWS of the open project - if a view is empty, you opened a child/derivative (see section 1).

3. Move the editor for demos / screen recordings

Give a recording "life" with these FIRST-CLASS verbs. Each runs its WHOLE motion inside the add-in - one call = one smooth move, a repaint per frame (the 2D analogue of vp.refresh()):

Zoom (schematic / 2D board)

fusion_electron_zoom {factor, steps?, frameDelayMs?} - factor>1 zooms in, <1 out; or {fit:true}. e.g. adom-desktop fusion_electron_zoom '{"factor":3,"steps":20}' (smooth zoom in over 20 frames).

Pan + frame a region (or a part)

fusion_electron_pan {x1,y1,x2,y2, steps?, frameDelayMs?} - glide+zoom to a board-coordinate box (mm). Animates from where the view last was. Get part coordinates from fusion_board_info or the CPL export (fusion_export_cpl gives every part's Mid X / Mid Y) - frame a small box around a part to "go to" it. e.g. adom-desktop fusion_electron_pan '{"x1":10,"y1":15,"x2":22,"y2":38,"steps":16}'.

Select a part + surface its properties

fusion_electron_select {name} (reference designator) or {x,y} (board mm) - selects the part the way clicking it reveals the properties panel, and returns its device info. (Select highlights; pair with fusion_electron_pan to also center on it - the "select chip -> zoom to it" tour.) e.g. adom-desktop fusion_electron_select '{"name":"U1"}'.

Orbit / zoom the 3D PCB (Fusion camera)

fusion_show_3d_board, then fusion_run_modeling_script with a camera loop: app.activeViewport.camera, step the eye around the target in azimuth (vary radius to zoom), cam.isSmoothTransition=False, vp.camera=cam, vp.refresh() + adsk.doEvents() + a short time.sleep() each frame. The vp.refresh() is what makes the in-between frames render.

Lower-level building blocks (what the verbs above wrap)

fusion_electron_run runs raw EAGLE: WINDOW FIT, WINDOW <factor>, WINDOW (x1 y1)(x2 y2), DISPLAY, RATSNEST, GRID. fusion_execute_text_command runs Electron.*: SelectbyName, LeftButtonDown / Select x y (+ ContinueSelect / EndSelect for a marquee), ImmediateRepaint /full, sch_get_deviceinfo. Reach for these only when a first-class verb doesn't cover what you need.

Capture without disrupting the user

Record with WGC (desktop_record_window_start) - background, no focus steal, and it grabs the LIVE EAGLE GL canvas. PrintWindow (desktop_screenshot_window) shows the chrome but does NOT reflect the GL view changing, so verify motion by the verb's ok + a WGC frame, not a PrintWindow pixel-diff. A black canvas means an empty/wrong file - see section 1.

Gotcha: file paths WITH SPACES (fixed in v1.6.90 - issue #196)

executeTextCommand is a space-delimited command string, so Document.newDesignFromLocal used to receive an unquoted path and split it at the first space:

C:/Users/drew/Downloads/e2e-pmcoil/PM COIL Molecule.brd
                                   ^ Fusion only ever saw ".../PM"

The open then silently no-op'd - no dialog, no document, just the generic "Fusion 360 may not support this file" hint - which sent the reporting agent hunting for a file-format problem when it was pure path handling. (Caught by Drew's agent: the identical file opened instantly once copied to a space-free name.)

Fixed in _open_local_document() (commands/open_electronics_file.py), now used by fusion_open_board, fusion_open_schematic, fusion_import_electronics and fusion_open_lbr:

  1. Quote the path, then
  2. if that fails and the path has spaces, retry with the Windows 8.3 short path (GetShortPathNameW) - same file, no spaces, nothing copied.

If you are writing a new verb that hands a path to executeTextCommand, use that helper. Never interpolate a bare path into a text command; assume every user path has spaces in it, because Downloads and OneDrive folders routinely do.