Nowadays, market-disrupting big ideas are coming from new startups and innovators. Sometimes they have no previous experience in product design.
In the initial design stage, sometimes innovators and startups give more preference to PCB hardware design and software without considering product aesthetics or PCB mechanical design. This approach can cause a loss of time and money.
What is Right Approach for a Electronics or IoT Product Design?
Ultimately a customer only cares about the final product. He has no interest in how a product is working. After the performance, the customer looks for the user experience in a product.
For example, if a customer is looking for a laptop. Along with laptop performance, customers are also concerned about product aesthetics, build quality, finish, and functions. He does not care about the inside components of the PCB.
From above, it is clear product aesthetics has an impact on customer buying decisions. But sometimes new startup’s firstly designed their product PCB and then start working on outside enclosure design.
As a result, product designers left with minimal options. Therefore the best approach during new product development is to firstly finalize a product aesthetics without compromising product functions and cost.
Role Of Mechanical Design in PCB Design
A product’s mechanical design governs its aesthetics. And a PCB mechanical arrangement has an impact on product mechanical design. In other words, product mechanical design has an impact on product hardware or PCB design and vice versa.
Therefore following points should be considered and consulted with a mechanical engineer during and design.
1. Impact of PCB Layout on Product Aesthetics
As discussed above, a PCB layout is governed by product aesthetics and vice-versa. Layout engineers shall demand the following details from the mechanical team.
- PCB outline.
- PCB mounting details.
- Connector positions.
- Maximum component height constraints.
2. Heat Dissipation
Due to the miniaturization of electronics products, heat dissipation plays a very important role in product aesthetics and performance.
Mechanical designers can help in improving PCB heat dissipation with manual calculations and thermal analysis.
Better dissipation of heat can increase PCB life, reduce product development time, and ultimately saves cost. We suggest you also read this article on the selection of heat sinks for electronics products.
3. Working Environment
During a complete product life cycle, PCB has to withstand harsh environmental conditions. PCB layout has to be done in such a way that it shall withstand following working conditions.
- High and low-temperature conditions
- Temperature cycling
- Humidity in environment
- Shock and vibrations
- Exposure to solid and liquid particles according to product IP Rating.
To sum up, mechanical designers can play a very key role in a good PCB design. All points from a mechanical perspective need to be considered in the initial design stage to reduce product development time and cost.
Hiring a Mechanical Design at the initial design stage of your PCB layout, can save redesign cost and reduce product time to market. You can also write to us if you need any support in PCB mechanical design.
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