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Inefficiencies in Hardware Bring-up Discussion

derail

Hello all,

I am an electrical engineering undergraduate currently in the process of starting my senior design project (capstone) with an idea based around solving test and debug inefficiencies in the hardware bring-up realm.

 

I’d like to start a conversation about what really grinds your gears at your workplace, or on your downtime at home, while designing, testing and validating new board designs. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

To get things started here are some of the questions I really want to be discussed:

  • What type of information (and medium) do you have about a board while you are testing it?
  • Through your experience, what points in your testing workflow do you see as inefficient?
  • What is the biggest problem you’ve faced while performing bring-up on a new PCB?
  • What PCB design software did you use (KiCAD, Altium, Eagle, etc)?
  • What parts of your PCB design software did you find most helpful with bringing up a new board?

 

Thank you in advance to anyone that can provide feedback on this subject as it will really help my capstone team narrow what to build and help validate some of our potential ideas.

Cheers,
Darryl

Parents

  • This is a big subject. Usually it all starts with power rail verification but one issue I come across more than I'd like is validation of non-standard connector pinouts. CAD tools may have no way of checking the connector pinouts. If there is a human error, the CAD tool may not be able to help, so it can make it through to manufacturing. It is wise to check connector pinouts before plugging in cables for the first time.

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  • This is a big subject. Usually it all starts with power rail verification but one issue I come across more than I'd like is validation of non-standard connector pinouts. CAD tools may have no way of checking the connector pinouts. If there is a human error, the CAD tool may not be able to help, so it can make it through to manufacturing. It is wise to check connector pinouts before plugging in cables for the first time.

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  • in reply to dougw

    Thanks Douglas for the feedback! I have definitely run into this problem before and had seen friends who had to remanufacturer their boards from this issue which unnecessarily delay their project. Do you have any suggestions on how you would fix this common problem? It seems like it really boils down to how well documented and clear the connector datasheet is and the user's ability to create the proper schematic/footprint.