Lessons learned from developing state-of-the-art control electronics (PCBs) to be manufactured in medium volume

Today there is a growing trend towards increasingly complex and intelligent embedded electronics systems. To implement a desired system there is often no suitable hardware platform available on the market. This contribution illustrates the lessons learned from a joint project of a mid-cap company and a university to develop several PCBs (printed circuit boards) for industrial control purposes. This contribution focuses not so much on general technical problems with regard to PCB design because these are covered well by the existing literature. Instead specific problems are addressed that are relevant for rather small, resource-restricted companies with manufacturing quantities for a board in the hundreds range and multi-year lifecycles. Structured according to a practically-proven development sequence, some generally applicable potential pitfalls and previously undocumented problems are shown. This kind of production volume is very relevant because it applies to almost all industrial applications as well as e.g. in-field evaluations of consumer electronics.