Schedules are not the only thing to prioritize.

Being a manager isn’t for everyone. In addition to technical skills, a manager is responsible for resource allocation and risk management. In the field of electronic design, a manager must balance being a technical person and a people-person. Beyond that, a manager overseeing employees involved in creative endeavors must comprehend the uncertainties and challenges that arise with an electronics design project. Of course, the electrical engineer will normally say the schematic is complete on the day it is supposed to be. Same goes for the mechanical engineer. Ever the optimists, they believe everything is going according to plan – until the day it isn’t. Surprise! (Though, honestly, it’s not really surprising.)

Routing flash has EMI implications. Don’t rush.

Memory comes in different types, and one key distinction is whether the memory remembers anything once the system is shut down. Nonvolatile memory stays around for the next session, while volatile memory lives up to its name and melts away between uses.

The designer’s (large) role to keep projects on track.

The restaurant industry has a saying, “Time to lean is time to clean.” The gist is that there is never a dull moment while the clock is ticking. Bearing in mind the importance of time, the PCB designer is often faced with the prospect of starting a layout before all the necessary data are on the table. A preliminary schematic and a rough outline are a step in the right direction but by no means the whole story.

That beginning may have been delayed while the schematic capture gets to a state where you have enough information to actually start the physical design segment. In the meantime, it’s always good to inquire about any new connectors or other components to get a jump on obtaining or creating the footprint for the library. These kinds of things are often left to the designer. Going to see the cognizant engineer – or at least chatting them up – will let them know you’re on the job and trying to push forward.

Electrical and mechanical engineers have a lot on their plate and can be spread thin. They can seem to have a high tolerance for risk when it comes to the schedule. That is, anything and everything can change at any time. The one exception is the tape-out date. This is the significant difference between a “waterfall schedule” and concurrent design.

Planning for future updates can save customers a headache.

“Unplanned obsolescence” can happen to a PCB, so the printed circuit board designer must provide a few hooks to give the project a second chance.

Once upon a time, car stereos were almost universally interchangeable, so you could get a new, improved one off the shelf from your local specialty store. Upgrading car sound systems was my “side hustle” as a teenager. There were no how-to videos back then, but there are now.

That’s because it’s necessary! For my car, it starts with vents and the display screen at the top of the center stack and works through the HVAC control module. Then, you can pull the infotainment system out and hope it all clicks back into place afterwards. Who’s got time for that? (Life in the auto repair trade.)

No user-serviceable parts inside? Give me a break! The head unit is tough to get to, but the PCBs within the chassis use active components in quad-flatpack (QFP) packages rather than ball grid array (BGA) packages, which are more difficult, but certainly not impossible, to solder or desolder. The QFP’s perimeter pins are more accessible for the do-it-yourselfer. Functionally, these circuits provide entertainment to the driver, which is unrelated to safety, so a Class 2 PCB should be fine. Still, the BGA package is avoided as it doesn’t fit the high-reliability mindset of the auto industry. QFP devices permit more robust Class 3 circuit boards if the voice navigation aspect is considered a vital system and integrated with the audio.