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A Step by Step Guide to Electronic Product Design andDevelopment

A well executed design and development cycle for an electronic product requires travelthrough many stages before arriving at a successful conclusion. Here are the stages that wehave determined are needed to create a well designed electronic product.

1. Concept

The stage where an idea for a new product, a variation on an existing product, or the

identification of a need for an undefined product causes research to be done to define aproduct, a market, and an approach for manufacturing this product.

2. Research

The stage at which the product concept is utilized to fuel research that includes identifyingthe technology, methods, and vendors involved in producing the product. This stage ofresearch must result in a detailed design specification that is used to cost the design

process that follows as well as the estimated manufactured cost of the product. The agency

compliance requirements !."., #.$.$., $.%., etc.& are defined now.

. Circuit Design

The stage where a schematic diagram is created usually via computer drafting software&

and a preliminary parts list is created for costing and prototyping the product.

!. Pac"aging and Printed Circuit Design

This is the stage where the device under design gets a suitable enclosure designed orselected. This enclosure selection as well as connectors, controls, and diplays must all be

resolved before the printed circuit layout commences. The first step in designing a printedcircuits the mechanical pattern or outline of the board assembly itself.

The ma'or steps in this process are(

a. A package housing& is selected or designed. )f designed, the mechanical drawing

must be produced of the assembly. )f selected, this drawing will be supplied by themanufacturer.

b. *omenclature and graphics for the enclosure will be designed. This may be applied inthe form of labels, overlays, silkscreens, or a combination.

c. The printed circuit layout commences and resolves the requirements of the circuitdiagram usage of electronic components with the form factor demanded by the

packaging design process.

d. The printed circuit artwork is processed on film and used by a manufacturer to etch

printed circuit boards for the board assembler. A silkscreen of part locations to assist

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in the assembly process is normally applied on the printed circuit card by themanufacturer.

#. Prototyping or $rial Production

+ometimes protypes are built before stage packaging and printed circuit layout& but the

speed and cost advantages of computer aided design are making this more uncommon. Ahand-wired prototype of all or a portion of the circuit may be required for the design

process.

%. Design Revie&

The stage where the prototype and initial units are evaluated for function, appearance,build-cost, and possible enhancements. This process should result in minor changes but is a

must to insure compliance with the original goals.

'. (anu)acturing Setup including $est Setup

The stage is where the necessary test procedures and apparatus, fixtures if necessary, anddetailed assembly instruction and documents are put in place in order to yield quality, tested

products when quantity production takes place.

*. Documentation

The phase where circuit diagrams, parts lists, master printed circuit artwork, parts sources,software source code and documentation, mechanical drawings, assembly drawings, and all

other items included as part of a pro'ects deliverables are provided. This package should besufficient so as to make the product producible by any qualified source, not 'ust the parties

involved in the design.

+. Agency Compliance

According to the nature of the product some agency compliance may be required by law. )naddition, some agency compliance may be desirable for product acceptance or for product

liability insurance coverage. Agency compliance can cost several thousand dollars peragency and can add months of time to accomplish. )t is not to be taken lightly or left as an

afterthought.

1,. -ollo&up

After a product is released into production/ the manufacturing facility experience, theproduct support data, and the user responses, should all be reviewed for the purpose of

steering future designs and marketing. 0ont forget this crucial step on the road toimproved quality, value, and often lower cost.

Siing up the $as"

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)f you are contemplating a pro'ect, make a copy of this document and put an estimatedtime and dollar amount by each stage and sub-stage. Add up the time and dollars and see if

it makes sense. Also, add a name or source for each of these items. Hopefully )ndustrologic,)nc. can aid or provide you one or more of these stages of development.

$rite /ut $rue0

+ome seemingly small, but important observations we have made over the years.

There is Good, Cheap, and Fast. 1ou can only have two of the three at any one time.

)f you can buy something, do not build it or anything similar without some truly

overwhelming 'ustification.

Always make a mockup or model, even if it is cardboard with hand drawn features. )t

will pay for itself again and again, and you will learn something crucial each time youbuild one.

Product Life Cycle

In this section, we will introduce the product development process in general.

The basic approach is introduced here, and the details of these concepts will be

presented throughout the remaining chapters of the book. As we learn

software/hardware development tools and techniques, we can place them into

the framework presented in this section. As illustrated in Figure 7., the

development of a product follows an anal!sis"design"implementation"testing"

deplo!ment c!cle. For comple# s!stems with long life"spans, we transverse

multiple times around the life c!cle. For simple s!stems, a one"time pass ma!su$ce.

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