Prototype to Product

Prototype to Product

by Alan Cohen
Released August 2015
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781449362263

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Book description

Product development is the magic that turns circuitry, software, and materials into a product, but moving efficiently from concept to manufactured product is a complex process with many potential pitfalls. This practical guide pulls back the curtain to reveal what happens—or should happen—when you take a product from prototype to production.

For makers looking to go pro or product development team members keen to understand the process, author Alan Cohen tracks the development of an intelligent electronic device to explain the strategies and tactics necessary to transform an abstract idea into a successful product that people want to use.

  • Learn 11 deadly sins that kill product development projects
  • Get an overview of how electronic products are manufactured
  • Determine whether your idea has a good chance of being profitable
  • Narrow down the product’s functionality and associated costs
  • Generate requirements that describe the final product’s details
  • Select your processor, operating system, and power sources
  • Learn how to comply with safety regulations and standards
  • Dive into development—from rapid prototyping to manufacturing

Alan Cohen, a veteran systems and software engineering manager and lifelong technophile, specializes in leading the development of medical devices and other high-reliability products. His passion is to work with engineers and other stakeholders to forge innovative technologies into successful products.

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Table of contents

  1. Preface
    1. Why I Wrote This Book
    2. Who Should Read This Book?
    3. Who Might Be Disappointed by This Book?
    4. What’s Covered? What’s Not?
    5. How This Book Is Organized
    6. A Word on Nomenclature
      1. A Word on Jargon
    7. Keeping in Touch
    8. Safari® Books Online
    9. How to Contact Us
    10. Acknowledgments
  2. 1. The 11 Deadly Sins of Product Development
    1. The Fundamental Principle of Product Development
    2. The Vice of Laziness
      1. Deadly Sin #1: Putting Off “Serious” Testing Until the End of Development
    3. The Vice of Assumption
      1. Deadly Sin #2: Assuming That We Know What Users Want in a Product
      2. Deadly Sin #3: Assuming That Users Know What They Want in a Product
    4. The Vice of Fuzziness
      1. Deadly Sin #4: Lack of Comprehensive Requirements
      2. Deadly Sin #5: Lack of a Good Project Plan
      3. Deadly Sin #6: Not Assigning Responsibility
    5. The Vice of Cluelessness
      1. Deadly Sin #7: Not Addressing Regulations
    6. The Vice of Perfectionism
      1. Deadly Sin #8: The Sin of New-Feature-Itis
      2. Deadly Sin #9: Not Knowing When to Quit Polishing
    7. The Vice of Hubris
      1. Deadly Sin #10: Not Planning to Fail
    8. The Vice of Ego
      1. Deadly Sin #11: Developing Technology Rather Than Developing Products
    9. Final Thoughts
    10. Resources
  3. 2. Development Process Overview
    1. Don’t Panic!
    2. Product Development Life Cycle Overview
    3. A Great Idea
    4. Preliminary Planning: Does This Make Sense?
      1. Ballparking
      2. Setting Stakeholder Ground Rules
    5. First Reality Check
    6. Detailed Product Definition, a.k.a. Surprise Management
      1. Product Design
      2. Technical Risk Reduction
    7. Second Reality Check: Go or No Go?
    8. Detailed Development
      1. Prototyping
      2. Testing
      3. Purchasing
    9. Manufacturing
      1. Factory New Product Introduction
      2. Pilot Production
      3. Ongoing Production
    10. Final Thoughts
    11. Resources
  4. 3. How Electronic Products Are Manufactured
    1. Manufacturing Overview
    2. Supply Chain
    3. Building Circuits: PCB Assembly
      1. PCB Assembly: Solder Paste Application
      2. PCB Assembly: Placing Components
      3. PCB Assembly: Reflow
      4. PCB Assembly: Optical Inspection
      5. PCB Assembly: Hand Soldering and Assembly
      6. PCB Assembly: Cleaning
      7. PCB Assembly: Depaneling
    4. Test
      1. In-Circuit Test (ICT)
      2. Functional Test
        1. Burn-in testing
    5. Final Assembly
    6. Final Functional Test
    7. Packaging
    8. More, and Less
      1. How Many?
      2. Higher-Volume Production
      3. Lower-Volume Production
    9. The People Stuff: Factory Culture
    10. Final Thoughts
    11. Resources
      1. Factory Automation
      2. Factoryless (e.g., DIY) Manufacturing
  5. 4. Preliminary Planning: Can This Be a Success?
    1. Introducing MicroPed
      1. Why Does the World Need MicroPed?
      2. Marketing Requirements
      3. Target Markets
    2. Can It Make Money?
      1. A Quick Look at the Money Stuff
      2. Income Projections
      3. Cost of Goods Sold
      4. Gross Margin
    3. Can We Develop It?
      1. Identifying Unobtanium
    4. Go? No Go?
  6. 5. Detailed Product Definition
    1. Phase Overview
    2. Iteration
    3. The Road Ahead: An Overview
    4. So, What Will It Do? Specifying Our Product
      1. User Stories
      2. Use Cases
      3. Requirements
    5. From What, to How and Who
      1. Architecture Basics
      2. Top-Level MicroPed System Architecture
      3. More Architectures, and Design
    6. Technical Risk Reduction
    7. Updated COGS Estimate
    8. Go/No Go: Redux
    9. Resources
  7. 6. Detailed Development
    1. Detailed Development Process
      1. Software and Electronics: Chicken and Egg
      2. Electronics
      3. Software
      4. Mechanicals (Enclosures)
    2. System Integration
    3. Testing
      1. Verification Testing
        1. Requirements Traceability
      2. Manufacturing Testing (and Device Programming)
        1. Connections and Fixturing
    4. Moving into Manufacturing
    5. Final Thoughts
    6. Resources
      1. Electronics
      2. Software
      3. Injection Molding
      4. DFM & DFA
      5. Rapid Mechanical Prototyping
      6. Testing
      7. Moving into Manufacturing
  8. 7. Smart Platforms: Processors
    1. Low-End Microcontrollers
      1. 8051 Class
      2. AVR
      3. PIC
      4. MSP430
    2. Middling Microcontrollers/Processors
      1. Cortex-M: Microcontroller Profile
      2. Cortex-R: Real-Time Profile
      3. Cortex-A: Application Profile
    3. Big Iron: Desktop- and Server-Class Processors
    4. Other Hardware Platforms
      1. Systems on Modules (SOMs)
      2. Single-Board Computers (SBCs)
      3. DSP chips
      4. Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)
    5. Final Thoughts
    6. Resources
  9. 8. Smart Platforms: Operating Systems
    1. Board Support Packages (BSPs)
    2. RTOSes
      1. Predictability
      2. RTOS licensing
    3. Middleweight OSes
      1. Embedded Linux
      2. Android
      3. Windows Embedded
      4. Boot Loaders
    4. Heavyweight OSes
      1. Advantages
      2. Disadvantages
    5. Final Thoughts
    6. Resources
  10. 9. Powering Our Product
    1. Batteries
      1. General Battery Characteristics
      2. Battery Chemistries
      3. Lithium Ion (Li-ion and LiPo)
    2. Wall Outlets: AC-to-DC Power Conversion
    3. DC-DC Power Conversion
      1. Linears and Switchers
    4. System-Level Power Design
      1. Supplying the Necessary Juice
      2. Minimizing Power Consumption
      3. Minimizing Cost and Complexity
    5. Final Thoughts
    6. Resources
  11. 10. Staying Safe: Regulations, Standards, Etc.
    1. Regulatory Fundamentals
      1. Process Overview
      2. Do these apply to little manufacturers like me?
      3. Laws, Regulations, Standards, and Other Regulatory Words
      4. Location
      5. Categories of Regulations
      6. Ambiguity in Regulations
      7. Conformance Testing and Certification
    2. Navigating US Regulations
      1. CPSC
      2. FCC
    3. European Regulations
      1. CE marking
      2. US Versus EU
      3. Finding the EU Regulations That Apply to Us
      4. Cradle to Grave: Safe Disposal
    4. Batteries at 35,000 Feet
    5. ITAR
    6. Quality Systems and ISO 9001
    7. Final Thoughts
    8. Resources
      1. Voluntary Certifications
      2. EU Regulatory Framework
      3. ISO 9001
  12. 11. Writing Requirements That Work
    1. Requirements Versus Goals Versus Specifications
    2. Why Requirements?
    3. The Case Against Requirements
      1. Customers don’t really know what they want until they actually have it
        1. Getting more-accurate information from users
      2. Technologists build what we ask them to build, not necessarily what we meant for them to build
      3. We gain important insights as the project progresses
      4. The world around us keeps changing
    4. Writing Good Requirements
      1. Careful: Requirements Are Design Constraints
      2. Requirements Should Be Testable
      3. Requirements Are Interface-Centric
    5. Positive Requirements Versus Lurking Requirements
      1. A Lurking Requirements Checklist
    6. Communicating Requirements
      1. Making Requirements Clearer
    7. Great Requirements Come from Great Participation
    8. Maintaining Requirements
      1. Requirements Management Software
    9. Final Thoughts
    10. Resources
  13. 12. Meta-Stuff: Project Planning and Infrastructure
    1. Project Planning
      1. Effort-Driven Project Planning
    2. Project Management
    3. Issue Tracking
      1. Document Control
    4. Change Management
    5. Final Thoughts
    6. Resources
  14. Index

Product information

  • Title: Prototype to Product
  • Author(s): Alan Cohen
  • Release date: August 2015
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449362263