Engineering Method

Introduction
Characteristics of the Engineering Method
Project Approach
The Method

Problem Selection
Preliminary Ideas
Refinment and Selection
Feasibility Study
Request for Design
Requirement Analysis
User and Client Requirements
Establish the Level of Design
Determine the Performance Requirements
Specifications Document
Conceptual Design
System Study
System Design
End Product Visualization Document
Refinment of the System Design
System Design Documents
Assessment and Specification Update
Detailed Design
Design Development
Detailed Design Documents
Design Assessment
FREEZE the Design
Implementation
Troubleshooting
Testing and Evaluation
Design and Implementation Testing
Operational Testing
Testing and Evaluation Results
Documentation
The Product Report
References
© Natkeeran Ledchumikanthan




Implementation

For students and inexperienced engineers implementation is a difficult phase. For professional engineers and some teachers implementation is trivial or straightforward process, provided the design is done right. In my opinion, implementation is never a straightforward process. Implementation requires skills (soldering, bread boarding, programming), specialized knowledge (reading circuit diagrams, reading flow charts), and tacit knowledge. The challenge is to take the design and specifications and to construct the product in the physical world.

Strategize
Which component needs to be implemented first?
How will the components be integrated?

Prepare
Before a circuit can be built the components need to be bought, and tools need to be set up.

Do
HW: built the circuit, solder, test
SW: coding and testing
Integrate

Troubleshooting

Design or implementation flaws can cause faults. Troubleshooting the hardware or debugging the software is a definite feature of the method. I will discuss about trouble shooting techniques later.