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Prototyping

The prototyping phase can also be fun and exciting because this is where the proverbial “rubber meets the road.” When prototyping, you truly discover if your idea and design actually work as expected. During this phase, prepare yourself for heartache, setbacks, and, most importantly, lessons learned — this is when errors and oversights are discovered and must be rectified. Prototyping includes both the fabrication and assembly of your PCB. Depending on the complexity of your PCB design, these prototypes can be either handmade, by yourself, or produced using one of the many prototype shops available online or possibly locally. Also included in this phase is testing, such as the initial turn-on test (aka, the “smoke” test), which involves energizing your PCB for the first time to ensure it either works as desired — or it smokes. After your design is working as designed with no required or desired design changes, the following tests, depending on the end-user of your design, should be considered: · Lifetime testing · Failure Analysis (FA) testing · Highly Accelerated Stress Test (HAST) · Compliance Certifications · User Ability Studies · Shock and Vibration testing · Temperature testing · Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Depending on the successes and failures of the design phase, there may or may not be many iterations to your prototype. Therefore, beware: Prior to starting any of the expensive testing (Lifetime, FA, HAST, etc.), ensure that your design is working as desired and is “locked down” to prevent any retesting. Most design changes could invalidate the results of your testing. The prototyping phase can also be fun and exciting because this is where the proverbial “rubber meets the road.” When prototyping, you truly discover if your idea and design work as expected. During this phase, prepare yourself for heartache, setbacks, and, most importantly, lessons learned — this is when errors and oversights are discovered and must be rectified.

Ladyada's Take

From Maker to Market 05 – Prototyping – How Adafruit developed Circuit Playground
How Adafruit developed Circuit Playground

This video, we get back our prototype PCBs! Woo - time to hand solder each component and 'bring up' the board. After each component is soldered in, we test it. We create a 'demo test' that does the te ...

 

Tools

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PCB Builder

DigiKey's PCB Builder service is a resource to purchase printed circuit boards from board house providers through DigiKey.

 

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Leverage the World's Largest Selection of Electronic Components Available for Immediate Shipment

There simply is no better way to find, compare and evaluate electronic components than Digikey.com.

Resources

Assembly houses are key to your prototyping success
Assembly houses are key to your protyping success

Having a good relationship and trusting your assembly house is critical. Look for location, type of equipment, quality, certification…

Find videographers, writers, graphic designers and marketers
Find videographers, writers, graphic designers, and marketers

Help is all around and it is important to know where to find skills ...

Know What Regulatory Agency Govern Your Design
Know What Regulatory Agency Govern Your Design

There are regulations on top of regulations. Make sure you spend the time and money upfront to make ...

PCB Manufactures Are Everywhere
PCB Manufactures Are Everywhere

There are lots of ways to find a good PCB manufacturer. Make sure you look at location, speed, ...

The FCC and Open Source Hardware
The FCC and Open Source Hardware

Understanding what this means to the hobbyist and to the maker is critical. SparkFun does a good job at explaining the ramifications.

Proto Labs
Proto Labs

Whether you are a 14-year-old maker or a product designer at a Fortune 500 company, you will eventually need manufacturing help. Enter Proto Labs, a digital manufacturer that produces custom prototype ...