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Anonymous Poster

Electronics Design Process

08/06/2009 3:56 AM

Hi All,

A generic question to the forum on what we think is the popular

process for electronics design.

Can we add any variations to ?

High level system design -> Detailed electronics design(critical ckt simulations)

-> Schematic design -> PCB Fab and assembly -> test and debug -> integration

I am keen on improving the quality of the output from this process.

Electronics is getting smaller and it is getting more and more difficult (impossible) to prototype on a breadboard/simulate accurately before you get the hardware in hand.

Any mistake around the BGAs can be extremely expensive in cost and time and

can literally stop further test and require you to redesign.

Considering this

What in your opinion is an effective process to improve quality of hardware ?

What are the checkpoints you would have in your process and how would you

evaluate at those checkpoints ?

What is the effective review method in a multi member team ?

Are review templates useful and time effective ?

Your thoughts are welcome.
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user-deleted-1105
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#1

Re: Electronics design process

08/06/2009 5:04 AM

It depends on what sort of electronics. Motherboards are hugely different from the stuff I do, small microcontroller based pump control systems.
I'm a one man design department, using through hole components.
Through hole is easy to assemble manually, and to repair, we have no size constraints, great for small batch production. We layed out and costed surface mount, but it wasn't cost effective until batch size gets much bigger.
Much of the design work is based on stuff which has gone before and most of the effort is writing user friendly effective software.
Get a prototype PCB as soon as possible is always my philosophy.
I only occasionly run tiny simulations of analoge bits n pieces, but that was mostly my last job.
One of the big problems in design is the barrier between customer and designer. Some companies let salesman get between the two...fatal.

Del

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Tobugrynbak
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#2

Re: Electronics design process

08/06/2009 6:58 AM

In my time as a Radio Technician (an occupation that is basically extinct now), I started with components the size of cockroaches (the big black buggers) to now, where the components are the size of cockroach excreta.

We deal with all sorts of products these days but there is one component package that is guaranteed to cause grief and thats BGA's. Anybody who thinks these are a good idea for their product needs a #3 wire brush enema.

A recent production run had to have a BGA component removed and replaced due to the BGA's being faulty(no they weren't counterfeit, fresh from the factory) it meant also having to remove any component that wouldn't survive the rework process. Much gnashing of teeth, lots of muttering under breath, as a production run became a bespoke hand built job.

If ever you want to make something unrepairable BGA's are the way to go.

In this digital age, a lot of the design process is committed to nailing down the nebulous "it'd be nice if it could do this too" before committing pencil to paper to rough out the design. Yes I still draw it out by hand before I crank up the CAD. If only so I can get the design close to what is needed before having to create libraries for bespoke components. Also for consideration is the attached software/firmware and the delegation of writing/testing of said software/firmware(I'm basically an Analogue Guy).

So if you wanted it in a straight line graph I suppose its like this;

Client Idea->Specification->Research->Predesign Review->Specification Affirmation->Planned Key Component Availability Affirmation->Initiate software design-> Initiate circuit design-> Review Software progress->Review Circuit Diagram -> Review Bill of Materials availability-> Draw PCB-> Review PCB-> Acquire Prototype quantity of BOM and PCB-> assemble prototype board-> Trial software/firmware on prototype-> Test/Debug prototype->Review holistically prototype soft/hardware-> Acceptance testing to Clients satisfaction-> Update design/software-> Confirmation that design is ready for production->Client approval and order-> Order Bom to client requested finished good quantity-> Assemble->Test/Debug-> QA review->Pack-> Ship product to client-> Follow up call by Account Sales Rep to make sure everything is tickety boo and enquire when the next quantity of goods should be scheduled..

That's about it, the process in Oz is made a lot more difficult due to the fact we don't have reliable, instant access, to components like companies in Europe or the U.S.

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user-deleted-1105
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#3
In reply to #2

Re: Electronics design process

08/06/2009 7:04 AM

Nice post...but wouldn't it have been nice if it had been in colour
So often the spec' is wrong in the first place, as what the customer wants, needs and specifies are often 3 entirely different things!
Del

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Tobugrynbak
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#4

Re: Electronics design process

08/06/2009 7:46 AM

That's why you gotta get the approvals in writing, signed by the person who actually approves payment.

The other deal breaker is when the customer's "engineers" requests a production hold while they review a design issue (of their own making). Then take two weeks to decide whether it should be 4.7 or 47 ohms (an oblique example) and you can't do a thing till its sorted and half the factory is at a standstill. Then once the change is approved/issued, you have to dismantle the assembled units make the change and then have to keep to the delivery schedule! Yes it used to happen regularly to us with an ex client.

Still you live and learn, hopefully

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Rock
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#5

Re: Electronics Design Process

08/07/2009 1:17 AM

Try Circuit Wizard, google it. We have been using it for a couple of years now. Good for prototyping, testing, cct board layouts and hence building the complete circuit.

Rok
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#6

Re: Electronics Design Process

08/07/2009 3:07 AM

I've read your Q a bit more carefully.
The great thing about a team is that you can escape from having to check your own work.
Explaining the 'clever' bits of a design to a colleague who understands the stuff is invaluable, as the act of explaining often exposes missed detail or the colleague raised questions which hadn't occurred to you.
Check sheets are a good idea in theory, but require discipline (and endless meetings) to get everything signed off.
Leadership and mutual 'ownership' of the project is a must...
I recommend coffee, cakes, paintballing and 5 a side football (soccer) as important as targets, reviews and checksheets.
The above applies to software, only more so.
Small informal meetings are better than large staying awake contests ones
Del

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