ELECTRONIC DESIGN
Requirements Capture
The Requirements Specification defines exactly what will be created. Appian creates this formal list from the discussions and documents provided by you and we add lower level detail as required.
Capture the requirements
Add comments and clarification
Agree with the customer
Sign off product on completion
Schematic Capture
The Schematic designs are a logical representation of the circuit board design. It holds the component information and the connections between them.
Select components
Create and add new parts to CAD libraries
Create the schematic
Export schematic to circuit board layout tool
Circuit Board Layout
The circuit board layout is the physical representation of the design.
Create board outline
Place components
Connect component pads, add power planes and thermal relief
Optimise and tidy routing and placement
Create manufacturing information and list of material
3D Representation
3D View and Video
Appian can create a 3D view and video of your circuit board. This provides a great visual experience of how the board will look.
3D Export
Appian will create a 3D export of the board to allow either our own industrial designers or yours to import the board into the mechanical design to check it all fits nicely.
Prototype Manufacture and Test
Once the circuit board design is complete, Appian will manufacture the first prototype boards. This is usually between 3 and 5 samples to allow testing to begin.
Bare board
Appian will get the bare board manufactured using one of our trusted PCB suppliers. Depending on the complexity of the design, the board can be anywhere from a single layer up to around 16 layers. Most designs are in the range of 2 to 10 layers
Assembly
Appian will either assemble the board in house or using one of our preferred assembly houses. This tends to be driven by board complexity and quantity. For high volume products Appian will interface with the assembly house at an early stage to ensure the design is optimised for their assembly line.
Test
Once the board is assembled and inspected, testing can begin. This usually starts with some basic measurements prior to powering the board. Power supplies and clocks are checked and then communications with any programmable parts such as microcontrollers or FPGAs. Detailed testing will then follow to ensure the board meets the specification.
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Final Steps
Update the design
Sometimes the design can be optimised further, sometimes the customer wishes to make changes. After testing the prototype, Appian will feed back any changes into the design.
Verification and validation
Whether Appian is developing the whole product or just the electronics, we can help with the formal verification of your product. Using a number of test houses, products can be checked against formal standards such as CE or the new UKCA.
Production Manufacture
With your product now ready, if required, Appian can assist with the production manufacture. Let us take the strain of interfacing with all the suppliers and allow Appian to deliver finished product direct to your premises.