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            On Track Newsletter May 2017 VOL. 1 No 2   Welcome to the second edition of the Altium On Track newsletter. This month we feature a very special PCB designer, Cherie Litson, who is a CID and CID+ Master Trainer. We also take you inside the FIRST Robotics Competition and Team Mechanical Mayhem 1519. We’ve also launched a new monthly On Track educational video series which offers design tips and tricks. As usual...

What’s the difference between Angry Birds and SpongeBob? I’m probably at an age where I shouldn’t be caring about these things, but choosing the wrong character for my son’s 5th birthday cake could spell disaster. As a designer, you probably can’t relate to my need to carefully consider the repercussions of choosing SpongeBob. However, you might understand it better knowing that I apply the same level of caution when designing for low volume...

Pervasive engineering simulation and consolidated engineering simulation platforms accelerate more innovative healthcare and render more effective, high-quality designs. By focusing specifically on the healthcare industry, it is demonstrated how simulation-driven design reduces costs and increases the ability of engineers to successfully meet product targets such as quality and launch date. Key findings include: 69% of platform-based...

Just about everyone in the world of engineering has heard some variation of the “Iron Triangle” theory. It’s a popular way to talk about what is or isn’t possible among those given the task of getting things done. Basically, it is a philosophy that says you can get something done fast, cheap, or good; pick two. For example, when designing a PCB for an aircraft, cheap goes out the window, fast takes a back seat and quality is paramount...

I have some friends who founded a startup company to create and market a brilliant new product.  Their product quickly became a success, but all their hard work was constantly undermined by communication issues between departments. It wasn’t long until the engineers found their creative hands tied, purchasing was buried under an avalanche of unreliable documentation, and the product build-in manufacturing was slowed to a crawl from incorrect...

Engineers sometimes have the tendency to overcomplicate a problem instead of focusing on simple logical solutions. For example, my friend’s motorcycle broke down and he spent hours checking on the battery, carburetor, and electrical system. It turns out that this was all done in vain. We were pretty amused to find out that this mayhem was caused by a faulty fuel indicator that let his fuel tank run empty. In electronics, what might seem like a...

Some of the most complicated engineering projects I’ve worked on were made up of multiple layers of sub-assemblies. Before we could order parts for a new assembly, we needed to go through every component in each tier of the final product to ensure that they would meet the rigorous current, voltage, and temperature derating requirements for different customer applications. The first few times I had to do this, it was by merging dozens of excel...

If you’ve ever worked with high voltages or have designed a high voltage circuit, you know that they always require careful planning. In my last job, we had been using a particular high voltage power supply circuit for years. When it was initially designed, the board took longer than usual to complete. While its design required some extra finicking, it was worth the effort. Everything was going well until the larger assembly's design was...