Best manual routing order for the 14 airwires
For this probe, the best order is to route by function and sensitivity, not randomly. In general, routing should prioritize net classes deliberately rather than one-by-one ad hoc; the project-modification guidance explicitly calls out routing by inferred net type and prioritization order . Since your board is a narrow sensor probe with a capacitive front end, I’d use this order:
1. Route the sensor-critical nets first
These are the most sensitive nets and should get the shortest, cleanest paths with the most control over nearby copper. If you route power and digital first, you’ll box yourself in and force these onto noisier paths later.
Guidelines
- Keep SENSE_A as short and direct as possible from U1 toward the sensing structure.
- Route SHIELD to surround or guard SENSE_A only where intentional.
- Avoid vias if possible.
- Keep these nets away from SDA, SCL, 1WIRE, and any broad ground copper.
2. Route power next
Once the sensitive analog path is protected, lock in the supply distribution. This keeps decoupling loops compact and avoids awkward detours later.
Guidelines
- Route J1 to U1 and U2 first.
- Make the paths to C1 and C2 very short.
- Keep return paths compact on the component half of the board.
3. Route the I2C bus after power
These are low-speed digital nets, but they are shared bus lines and should still be kept tidy and parallel only where necessary.
Guidelines
- Route from J1 to U1, with short branches to R1 and R2.
- Keep them away from SENSE_A and SHIELD.
- Don’t snake them through the sensing-region boundary.
4. Route the 1-Wire net last
This is usually the easiest remaining signal once analog, power, and bus routing are settled.
Guidelines
- Route J1 to U2 with the pull-up at R3.
- Keep it compact, but it does not need the same priority as the capacitive sensing net.
Practical airwire-clearing sequence
If you want a concrete hand-routing sequence, do it in this order:
- U1 SENSE_A
- U1 SHIELD
- J1 3V3 to local supply area
- 3V3 branches to U1, U2, C1, C2, R1, R2, R3
- GND return connections for U1, U2, C1, C2
- J1 to U1 SDA
- J1 to U1 SCL
- Short pull-up branches to R1 and R2
- J1 to U2 1WIRE
- Short pull-up branch to R3
Placement-aware tip
Because placement quality strongly affects trace length and routing success, it’s good practice to keep supporting parts clustered near their ICs and connectors at the edge before routing . For your board, that means:
Rule of thumb
- Analog sensor nets first
- Power second
- Digital bus third
- Lowest-priority digital last
If you want, I can turn this into a
pin-by-pin routing checklist for
J1,
U1, and
U2 so you can clear the 14 airwires in order without guessing.