What is Hardware Design?
It is design of Electronic circuit to perform certain tasks within the board and communicate to Application sitting on cloud.
a) Electronic circuit is – Can read data, execute algorithms and perform task locally i.e. at edge to give desired output.
b) Alternatively as IoT device, Reads the sensor data and send it to Application and perform commands received from App
Hardware design includes, selection of micro controllers and host of other components active and passive to complete the tasks in most economical way
One of the prime requirements of hardware design engineer is to identify the right components for circuit and availability of the components for long time. This includes, selection of alternate suppliers, alternate vendors, alternate components which can fit in the circuit with minimal / no changes in design
PCB layout as part of Hardware design is critical part which can make or break the performance of the device. https://www.cirexx.com/pcb-types/ gives more information on the PCB types
PCB Design for production
Key factors to note for making sure that PCB design is ready for mass / easy for production
Selection of through hole components Vs SMD components
Through hole components
Surface Mount Devices
PTH Components are good for
i) Small batch production and multiple customizations required for each batch.
ii) Power supplies where high current flow is required through these components
However, this is not scalable for mass production as this call for manual soldering or wave soldering. This is manpower intensive and not cost effective compared to SMD component assembly.
Design consists of both SMD and PTH component is the present trend. Major portion is on SMD and small portion is on PTH (if it can’t be avoided) will be ideal for bulk production with optimized costs.