Challenges in turnkey electronics product development

Electronics for You Design Conference 2012

Product Flow

Requirements Creating hardware Firmware and Host

Software Development Enclosures Compliance Manufacturing Sales and Marketing

Requirements Gathering

Ask questions Understand the end goal

of the customer Challenge the

requirements Visualize what the

customer wants to see in the end product

If needed … educate them

Use Development Kits

Do not reinvent the wheel Create smaller customized boards

around the development kits

Get the most out of your hardware

What is the ROI on your board turnaround ?

How can you maximize it ? Cut traces, add wires or drill holes ! Implement the functionality in the first

turnaround Leave the beautification for the next

turnaround

Enclosures

Off the shelf / custom ?? Rapid Prototyping Silicone / Aluminum Molds Manual Enclosures Pay attention to aesthetics

Compliance

What happens in Vegas …

Create islands for noisy circuits

Separate islands with common mode chokes and ferrite beads

Use tools like near field probing to understand the “nasty” areas

Conclusion

It is a great time to be an embedded systems / electronics engineer

Slow Process – Requires Patience and Perseverance

Need good expertise in Analog Design, Digital Design, Power Electronics and Firmware Development

Technology is changing – engineers need to adapt