SnapMagic Copilot brings the power of generative AI to electrical engineers. Will it revolutionize circuit design?
Generative AI has been used to write essays, paint pictures and compose symphonies. Now, it can design circuits.
SnapEDA, a search engine for electronic components, has announced a new AI-powered tool called SnapMagic Copilot. It’s not yet available, but the company’s preview resembles a sort of ChatGPT for circuit design.
Here’s an example prompt:
“I want a low-power MCU with 2 SPI ports, an ADC, and USB 2.0. Build me a reference design with all required passives and connect the USB port to a USB-C connector.”
With the same uncanny speed of ChatGPT crafting a message, SnapMagic Copilot lays out a circuit schematic:
That’s not all the AI Copilot can do, according to SnapEDA, which is also rebranding itself as SnapMagic alongside the new announcement.
Besides creating circuit designs from scratch (another example: “design a non-inverting amplifier with a gain of 2”), SnapMagic Copilot also works as an electronics autocomplete. SnapMagic says an engineer can add a microcontroller to a circuit and the AI tool will automatically place the recommended decoupling capacitors. It can also suggest manufacturer-recommended reference designs.
There’s more. SnapMagic says the Copilot can optimize a bill of materials to reduce cost or power consumption. It can also determine when a chosen component is low in inventory and recommend an alternate part from SnapMagic distribution partners, which include Digi-Key and Mouser.
“AI is advancing incredibly quickly. We’ve seen copilot technologies provide enormous leverage to software engineers, and it’s time to bring that to hardware engineering,” said SnapMagic CEO Natasha Baker in the company’s announcement.
So, when will you be able to use SnapMagic Copilot? The company hasn’t announced when the AI tool will officially launch, but interested engineers can join a wait list for early access on SnapMagic.com.
