CO2037 – Electrical Electronic Circuits

Introduction to Hardware Engineering

CO2037 – Introduction to Hardware Engineering 2

Contents
§ What do we invent new hardware for?
§ What is engineering and what does it involve?
§ Hardware Engineering Process:
▫ Requirements engineering
▫ Conceptual design
▫ Schematic design & validation
▫ PCB layout & inspection
▫ Fabrication & assembly output
▫ Hardware testing
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What do we invent new hardware for?

§ Extended definition of computers: Electronic devices that can execute
computer programs. In other words: What can perform computing tasks.
▫ PC, laptop, smartphone, smart TV, house hold automatic machines using
microcontrollers,... Are all computers.

§ Computer categories:
▫ General purposes computers
▫ Specific purposes computers

§ Hardware: All the things that physically exist.

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Examples of specific purposes hardware

§ IoT gateways
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Examples of specific purposes hardware

§ Vehicle’s ECUs
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Examples of specific purposes hardware

§ Indoor vehicular
robot controller
boards
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Examples of specific purposes hardware

§ Sensors and
sensors readers
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Examples of specific purposes hardware

§ IoT node controllers
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Examples of specific purposes hardware

§ Diagnostic tools
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What is engineering?
§ According to the Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary:
▫ Engineering (/ˌendʒɪˈnɪərɪŋ/): the activity of applying scientific knowledge to the
design, building and control of machines, roads, bridges, electrical equipment, etc.

§ In practice:
▫ What does an engineer do? à Engineering.
▫ What is engineering? à It’s what an engineer does.

§ You can define “engineering” activities in many ways, but:

▫ When facing problems that need to be solved, true engineers apply their knowledge
and skills to produce a working solution.
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What involves engineering?

§ Engineering may be simply understood as “problems solving”, but:
▫ The problem to be solved is often difficult and requires the use of some special
technique or the application of some specific technology.

▫ The result may have to meet a lot of strict requirements and constraints.
▫ In most projects, engineers are almost unable to produce a solution that meets all
the requirements directly from the problem descriptions.
è Engineering activities are divided into several consecutive steps.
So, an engineering process is a sequence of consecutive steps to turn the idea of a
possible solution to a problem into reality.
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An engineering process in general

§ The engineering processes are designed to fit particular domains. But most
processes share some common big stages as follows:
▫ ASK: Problems, requirements, and
constraints.
▫ IMAGINE: Possible solutions
▫ CREATE: Demo / concept version
▫ EXPERIMENT: Solution evaluation
▫ IMPROVE: Revise / finalize
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Hardware engineering (HWE) process

§ Overall process:
▫ Step 1: Requirements gathering
▫ Step 2: Conceptual design (form factor, hardware interface, ...)
▫ Step 3: Schematic design
▫ Step 4: Schematic validation
▫ Step 5: PCB layout
▫ Step 6: Fabrication & assembly
▫ Step 7: Testing & documenting
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HWE Step 1: Requirements specification

§ Input: Plain text or voice records describing the hardware to be developed.
§ Output: A technical specification including key features and characteristics
presented in the form of tables, figures, and diagrams.
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HWE Step 1: Requirements specification

§ Example:
▫ Input: In an IoT project, the sensor readers are required to be put in a round tube
with a diameter of 16 millimeters. There are two sensors that need to be read. The
first one produces a HIGH-level digital logic signal as a fire is detected and vice
versa. The second one is responsible for measuring the temperature. An analog
signal will be produced according to the ambient temperature, as an output of the
second sensor. The measurements for both sensors are conducted every 30 seconds
and the results must be transferred to the node controller using serial ports. All the
measurements are initialized by the node controller on its demand.
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HWE Step 2: Conceptual design

§ Input: Specifications from Step 1
§ Output: Drawings and detailed descriptions for the form factor and the
hardware interface.
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HWE Step 3: Schematic design

§ Input: Specifications
from Step 1
§ Output: A schematic
document designed
by an electrical CAD
tool.
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HWE Step 4: Schematic validation

§ Input:
▫ Specifications from Step 1
▫ Schematic document(s) from Step 3

§ Output: Valid schematic document(s)

§ Aspects:
▫ Electrical characteristics
▫ Functionalities

§ Methods: Simulations, experiments

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HWE Step 5: PCB design

§ Input:
▫ Mechanical specs from Step 1
▫ Valid schematic docs from Step 4

§ Output: PCB layout:

▫ Components arrangement
▫ Routing
▫ Polygon pouring
▫ Some further finishings
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HWE Step 6: Fabrication & assembly

§ Input: PCB layout from Step 5
§ Preprocess: Export fabrication and
assembly outputs.
§ Output: Printed circuit board with
electronic components soldered on it.
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HWE Step 7: Testing & documenting

§ Input:
▫ Specifications from Step 1
▫ Fabricated and assembled circuit
board from Step 6.

§ Ouput:
▫ Technical documents:
– Datasheet
– User’s manual

▫ Faults and failures report (if any).

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Homework
1. Propose a specification for the example on slide 15
2. Draw a diagram describing the “hardware development cycle” using the
understanding of the “hardware engineering process” introduced in today’s
lecture slides.

The two exercises above are not compulsory but are highly recommended to
complete.
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Assignments
§ Check it out on your BKeL site for detailed requirements
§ You are expected to finish a complete hardware engineering process for
your assignment.
§ Work in groups of 3 to 4 students.
§ You had better start early!
§ You should ask the lecturer before you start whether your assignment is
too simple.
§ No cheat!!!