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 Once
a board is finished
with the Engineering, Design, and Layout
portions of the process,
we have about 5 bare cards manufactured
for us by a board production house with a
quick turn-around time. Also, depending on
the board, we sometimes get the
solder
screen made for the board at this point (this
decision is made based on how far along in
the prototype process we are). If no screen
is ordered, we use hand solder paste dispensers
to apply paste to the prototype boards. At
this point the boards go through the standard
production process. This also serves to verify
the pick and place program for this specific
product. This step becomes the point where
we work out any problems the pick and place
machine may have with any new / unique /
difficult parts the prototype board may require
placed.
Boards that are small and not overly
complex we bread board first. This allows
us to tweak
the schematic as needed before we send away
for boards to be produced. Doing this shortens
the time to market.
When all of
the prototype boards have completed the
production process, one or two of them
are thoroughly tested. These tests are far
more in-depth than the standard tests our
production boards go through. Prototype testing
includes running the product for extended
periods of time, checking for heat problems,
fusing problems, software bugs (if applicable),
and pretty much anything else you can think
of. We look for potential future problems.
For example, can any of the connectors be
plugged in backwards? Can they be accidentally
plugged into the wrong place? If so, would
it damage the board? Protection circuitry
on a prototype is tested by shorting out lines,
applying over voltages, etc...
A
few of the prototype boards are sent to the
client for their testing purposes. Since
most of our clients have chosen to do their
own box builds, these prototype boards enable
them to verify any metalwork they have for
their product.
The final step in this process
is ESD and noise testing. This is completed
once we
have a completed build of the product, as
it would be sold (metalwork dramatically
affects the susceptibility of a product to
ESD and electromagnetic interference).
Upon completion of all of
these prototyping steps, and the approval
of the client, the
product can be put into mass production.
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