A fast and simple algorithm for locating short circuits on printed circuit boards

Printed circuit boards are subjected to different tests before components are mounted. One of these tests is the short circuit test. This test is carried out to ensure that no signal path is short-circuited to any other path on the board. This paper proposes a fast and simple algorithm to locate short circuits on printed circuit boards. A comparison is made between the proposed algorithm and an algorithm recently reported, and it is shown that the number of required tests is reduced by at least 70%. Given the fewer number of tests required, it is difficult to envisage any further optimization of the procedure. It is also shown that the implementation of the method presented here is much simpler, requiring only a single 5 V supply.