There are many methodologies of product design and implementation such as 'top down' and 'bottom up' that attempt to thoroughly define up front all aspects of a product and its development across the various disciplines. Some projects require many different kinds of engineers -- electrical, mechanical, software, etc. -- to jointly take responsibility for the design. However, in some cases, certain decisions are made in advance that may cause the entire product development cycle to be centered around that single decision. This pre-defined constraint presents a myriad of challenges for the design team to take into consideration. Some examples might be differences in electrical voltage levels that exist between system components, real-time requirements versus what the device is capable of delivering, and mechanical challenges of "making the part fit" into the end product.
The focus of this colloquium will be a presentation of a project situation where a decision was made to select a key system component and how the rest of the product development was brought together around that decision.
Colloquia Series page.