Specifying a new design

AirBorn Electronics provides custom manufactured electronic circuitry. The information provided here is intended to help you specify your new design. Probably the best way to use this information is to print this document, then write in the margin of your printed copy.

Give your project a name

Your project name could be:
• Descriptive: Sonar1 - Underwater buddy-line sonar
• Just a tag: Chicago
• An acronym: RIO - Remote Input/Output unit
• Or it could be catchy: The Silent Salesman

You'll probably be using this name a lot in the future - If you keep your project name short, it'll save you time! If it's 7 letters long, and unique enough to do a text-search on, you've got a real winner.

Describe your project (Opening Statement)

• Keep the first description short.
• The first sentence should summarize the whole function of the project.
• Describe or name equipment, devices or interfaces that the project uses or connects to
• You should fill in the detail of the project's specification later.

• Input Expander Unit. The input expander attaches to the RS485 bus from the rainmaster control system and provides a method for connecting additional 4-20ma analog and switch contacts to the rainmaster.
• Fragrance dispenser. The Fragrance dispenser provides timed bursts of air freshener (as set by the timer and mode controls) while room lighting is on or a room occupancy sensor is active.
• Al Roller controller. The Aluminium roller controller takes its input from a Mitutoyo LSM602 & LSM3000 laser micrometer, and, with values entered by keyboard and LCD display, controls the thickness of the aluminium sheet produced by the rolling machine. The controller provides relay outputs to drive the UP & DOWN contactors, together with a separate FAULT circuit to indicate out-of-tolerance product.

We are actually doing things a little backwards here, but the natural way to list things is to Name your project, then Describe your project. In fact, at the risk of sounding patronizing, successful projects are invariably originally conceived by first recognizing the market need that the project will satisfy, then finding the particular market the project will service, then describing the project, then giving it a name.

Describe your projects market

• Your project may sell to a particular group of people: Air conditioning installation companies
• Your project may sell to an established client base: Accessory for the existing rainmaster system
• Your project may satisfy your own requirements: Custom Plant for existing factory, no likely external sales
• Your project probably has a particular market position: Low cost, sold through Locksmiths

Describe the market need your product fulfils

• Provides the only method of expanding the rainmaster system. About 33% of rainmaster system users would probably also purchase additional inputs capability.
• Provides a more cost effective method of neutralizing odours - an existing market.
• Al Roller controller. Existing manual method is leading to substantial material wastage and tolerancing problems. Automatic control is a requirement for ISO9000 approval.

Again, we risk sounding patronizing... we are not writing an economics text book here, but if you can't identify a market need for white elephants, then it's best to think twice before committing your resources to producing them.

Estimate the production volume

• Estimate a budgetary sales price
• Estimate the market volume in units per year (see our section on economies of scale)
• Estimate the likely market share at the budgetary sales price
• Estimate the lifetime of the market
• Estimated production volume = (market volume ) multiplied by (market share) for (lifetime) years

Some clients believe that identifying their market, the market need and the market volume to a design subcontractor is tantamount to giving away a market opportunity. A design subcontractor is likely to produce poor results if this important information is kept hidden. Experience shows many products fail to gain market share because the client never really got the designers in tune with the market. Also from experience, the only situations in which I have seen design and manufacturing subcontractors "steal" a clients product idea (atleast in Australia) is when the client fails to pay for the work!

If the client is still unwilling to disclose market information, perhaps the best course of action is for the client to file for a provisional patent to protect the intellectual property, and then engage the subcontract design house.

The types of specification points or clauses

• Inputs
  Describing the project as a "Black Box" it has inputs, a function, and outputs. The inputs are physical electronic connections that are activated by, for instance, an operator pressing a button, or a temperature dropping too low.
• Controls
  Controls are often an abstraction of inputs - a potentiometer input may be used to control the speed of a motor, or a keyboard switch may be used to ramp the motor speed down to zero.
• Outputs
  Outputs can sometimes be directly related to functions - for instance an UP relay and a DOWN relay
• Indicators
  Indicators usually show the status or condition of the device, for instance Alarms, Faults, Modes.
• Functions
  Describe functions simply and generally. Describe special cases separately
• Modes of operation
  Modes of operation affect functions, for instance Powering up, manual operation, automatic operation
• Power Supply
  Choices are usually between Plugpacks, AC power, and battery.
• Protection, Fail safes and replaceable parts
• Connector types
• Physical format and size

Review your specification to ensure it describes the project clearly and succinctly. The specification should describe the project, as you need it produced. The specification can be followed by a wish list - desirable features or possible extensions. Possible extension might include a connector for I/O expansion.

An example of the distinction between the required and the desirable: The size of an electronic project is frequently described as a requirement when it is more often just desirable that it be as small as possible. Economical prototypes and niche market products are rarely as miniature as mass produced consumer electronics.

The specification is a terse point-by-point document with a brief opening description. It often helps to attach a plain written description of the project which is more general, and describes the way the project works more from the perspective of how it is used.

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