Need Help or Advice:
Guide to Processes involved in the Design Method (click on a heading to see that topic)
In any product design, the first steps are to explore a market for your product and a need that it will fulfill in that market. You should then identify existing (competing) products and find a position alongside these for your new product.
Having explored the market place you will need to create a specification for your product. This will essentially contain your instructions to the designer outlining the elements that the new product should possess. A specification starts out as a list of ideas and requirements that describe a device or project. This gets trimmed down to something more exact and explicit over time. It will help the designer if you give your reasons for wanting the product to perform certain tasks and how you would expect the tasks to be performed. You should also list which elements are 'required' and which are 'desired' as it will sometimes be necessary (for any number of reasons / constraints) to make changes during the design phase. These lists, which should be kept separate from the main specification, will help the designer to have a clearer understanding of your requirements. So the specification goes through two phases. In the first phase it describes the product as desired and, in the second phase it describes the product as required. The product specification, with your designers input, describes the product as it will be produced.
The Circuit Diagram or Schematic is a 'map' of the components and inter-connections in its most easily 'readable' form. The diagram is constructed using one of many standard CAD packages available and it must show exactly the construction of the printed circuit that is designed from it. Therefore the schematic CAD and printed circuit board CAD are linked through a 'Net-Check' and changes to one must always be carried out on the other. The circuit diagram will reference each component on the PCB and will list pin numbers for each connection. A good circuit diagram will include as much information as possible to help the reader understand the circuit. The designer will need to take various things into consideration when producing the circuit including:-
The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is the body of material to which components are soldered. Components are connected via one or more layers of metal tracks etched onto and passing through the board. The details for the PCB layout are taken directly from the circuit diagram and are positioned and placed by the designer for the best (and hopefully simplest) result. This layout represents how the circuit will actually look when produced and, although the connections on the PCB will be identical to the circuit diagram, the two may look completely different. This is because the circuit diagram is intended to be 'readable' whilst the PCB layout is intended to be functional. There are a lot of terms which you may come across when talking about PCBs, so we've put them in a glossary of terms at the end of this guide. The finalised CAD layout file (or Gerber file) is sent to a specialist PCB manufacturer for a small batch to be produced and returned a few days later for a prototype assembly run.
Two or three prototype circuit boards will now be produced by an engineer. During this time the circuitry is usually tested in stages following a complete test procedure as the PCB is assembled. Test procedures for a prototype board The perfect partner to a good specification is a good test procedure. There are three types of test procedure to discuss at this point.
As an additional test a Pilot run is sometimes required where a small number of units (say 20) are tested in the field. This is called a beta test and it is also a chance to consider how the design will lend itself to full-scale manufacture and to check whether associated documentation is useable.
The pilot run may reveal the need for changes to the design before it can be described as a finished product. Some designers (like Saturn) handle the full-scale production of products for their customers. Some customers prefer to do their own manufacturing or to use another 'preferred' sub-contractor.
If you have a requirement for a product design and / or manufacture then contact us or fill in the enquiry form and we'll arrange to come and see you. If you want more information then please call and put your questions to us. We will give you sound, confidential, free advice with no obligation to proceed any further.
| Home | Services | Products | Need Help? | Contact Us! | Stock Explorer Plus | Stock Explorer III | PHelp | Sitemap | Links | Enquiry Form | |
