Questions tagged [manufacturing]
The manufacturing tag has no usage guidance.
33
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How much does it cost to have a custom ASIC made?
I have browsed several ASIC manufacturer's webs, but I haven't found an actual number.
I assume there would be a fixed cost associated with creating masks and such and then there will be a cost per ...
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49
votes
13
answers
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How to go from newbie to manufactured?
I'm a software guy who wants to get into the hardware side of things so I can enjoy the same creativity from software design in the physical world.
I've found plenty of posts here regarding how to ...
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39
votes
7
answers
3k
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How do I make sure my electronics design is good from manufacturing perspective? [closed]
I am a beginner in electronics design. I have some experience with fairly complex PCB design. I want to design a product that will hopefully sell a lot. How do I ensure that the design is inexpensive ...
- 491
3
votes
1
answer
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JL (or maybe something else) misterious branded IC's, what is the origin? [closed]
Edit 12/31/2019: Thanks to Mariano Dupont:
Found it: Zhuhai Jieli Technology zh-jieli.com
Take a look at this example of an IC found on a circuit board:
Brand is found on many PCB's of Chinese/...
- 1,367
0
votes
1
answer
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Half-etched fiducials Vs through-cut fiducials
While making PCB, I added 8 fiducials (fids) marks so that pick and place machines use these marks as referent points on the PCB to position the surface mount components (Packages) during assembly.
...
55
votes
7
answers
18k
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Why don't we make CPUs with 1000s of layers to make use of space in the third dimension?
I am wondering why don't we make processors such as CPUs with 1000s of stacked layers to make use of space in the third dimension now that we have three-dimensional transistors. To be clear I'm ...
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35
votes
2
answers
3k
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What's the purpose of this checkerboard pattern?
This gigabit Ethernet NIC has a checkerboard pattern out of copper etched on the PCB:
Each square is electrically isolated. What's the point of adding these? I guess that the PCB isn't filled with a ...
- 635
31
votes
4
answers
6k
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Why are most COB LEDs physically yellow?
Many "LEDs" found on devices nowadays appear to be yellow where the light comes from (when the device is off). Why yellow?
I put LEDs in quotes because COB leds can consist of many ...
- 5,182
20
votes
5
answers
3k
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Why are MAX-, AD-, LT- parts (among others) so expensive?
I'm curious why some IC manufacturers like Maxim, Analog Devices, and Linear Tech's parts are so expensive? I know they are much higher quality (better electrical characteristics, etc), but for some ...
- 6,214
18
votes
9
answers
2k
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How can I successfully make a PCB at home?
I have tried several times, unsuccessfully, to manufacture a PCB at home. A lot of the other questions are about improving PCB performance and such, but I can rarely, if ever, even get the ink to ...
- 1,201
17
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6
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How can I evaluate or speculate on a part's production lifetime for long term part sourcing?
Suppose I have an idea for a product, where if it were successful, would be in production for 5-10 years. How can I make decisions on what parts to use now such that they will still be available to ...
- 4,258
17
votes
7
answers
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Why are we still using resistors with 5% tolerance while they can even manufacture a 14.318182MHz crystal?
Year is 2012 and I can only find 5%-tol resistors in the local market. They can make transistors at molecular scale, they can manufacture 14.318182MHz crystals, they can place trillions of flip-flops ...
- 14.2k
15
votes
4
answers
1k
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How can I go from prototype to commercial product?
I have made many designs that I would consider "professional grade", but in reality they are still just prototypes. I have used professional board fabs and professional population, but what I haven't ...
- 17.6k
14
votes
3
answers
421
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LEDs no longer bang - or whimper!
I volunteer at a club to teach Arduino programming to teens. As part of that, of course, I talk about voltage, current and what not to do. My prime example is taking an LED, putting it directly across ...
- 1,493
14
votes
1
answer
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Solder Mask and Cream in Eagle
I've got this part specification for the Paste Mask excerpted from the datasheet:
There's a lot of lingo in this short paragraph that I would like to better understand conceptually. Specifically I ...
- 22.8k
13
votes
1
answer
2k
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What is a "risk wafer"?
In integrated circuit manufacturing I came across the term "risk wafer" which seems to be different from a "normal" wafer. But I can't find any information online on what a risk wafer really is.
- 768
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3
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How does E-Test at a PCB Fab work?
I always see the option for E-testing when sending PCB's off to a fab house. I gather it is an electrical test to test all the connections. But how do they do it? They don't have my schematic! Only ...
- 3,834
13
votes
5
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4k
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Why put unpopulated components on a BOM?
I've ran into quite a few engineers from unrelated backgrounds that put unpopulated components on the BOM. Some will do a section clearly labelled DNP at the bottom, others will leave them dispersed ...
- 13.8k
12
votes
10
answers
4k
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Is it practical for firmware to be uniquely identified in production
Are there systems available in large scale manufacturing that allow a unique serial number to be programmed into the firmware or some free memory space for each PCB that comes through?
I've found ...
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12
votes
4
answers
849
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When Does Lead-Free Matter?
When shopping for components it's common to find a lead-free or RoHS-compliant version of the part along side one that is not. Under what circumstances does it matter that I chose exclusively lead-...
- 22.8k
12
votes
1
answer
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What are the ways in which semiconductor-grade neon is critical for manufacturing?
This is a question about material use specifically in semiconductor manufacturing.
CNN's Ukraine halts half of world's neon output for chips, clouding outlook begins:
Ukraine's two leading suppliers ...
- 3,439
10
votes
3
answers
2k
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The manufacturing and grading of families of microprocessors
Intel produces families of seemingly similar microprocessors. For example,
the Core i5-3320M (2.6 GHz, 3 MB cache),
the Core i5-3360M (2.8 GHz, 3 MB cache), and
the Core i7-3520M (2.9 GHz, 4 MB ...
- 617
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3
answers
2k
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Anyone know the premise of this PCB assembly note?
The assembly note states:
Bake bare PCBs in a clean and well ventilated oven prior to assembly at 125*C for 24 hours.
Why is this necessary?
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6
votes
1
answer
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How do PCB fabrication houses make PCBs?
I know the different ways of making PCBs at home, but I can't seem to find a lot of information on how board houses professionally make their PCBs. Is this how they do it?: http://www.youtube.com/...
- 4,546
6
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7
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2k
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Automatic serial number on a PCB
Imagine you're printing 10 PCBs and you want each PCB to have its own serial number, but you want to add the serial numbers automatically from Kicad. Is this possible or not? Does it depend on the ...
- 316
4
votes
1
answer
1k
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From what pitch should I consider ENIG finish
My design (4-layer, FR4, 1.6mm) has a couple of ICs with 0.5mm pitch pads and some LEDs with 0.4mm pitch pads, very small LEDs.
Should I consider ENIG (more expensive) or will HASL do the job?
I read ...
- 2,127
3
votes
2
answers
2k
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Many small via vs few bigger via
While I was designing a board I thought, if we want to make a better path for the current what is the best choise?
Small vias and big in numbers or fewer but with bigger hole?
- 2,053
2
votes
1
answer
209
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Optimizing product tests?
I'm currently working for a company where I design and implement an automated test program to test our products. Currently our tests take quite a bit of time (several minutes per unit) and need to ...
- 155
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vote
2
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Exporting fabrication files (gerber) in Altium leads to wrong connections
I'm going to print my first PCB wich is a small controller, nothing complicated. I know that I need to output GERBER or GERBER-X2 files. I prefer GERBERX2 because it comes with the board outline for ...
- 115
0
votes
2
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What are the primary industrial uses of gallium and germanium in electronics?
After the "neon shortage" struck I asked What are the ways in which semiconductor-grade neon is critical for manufacturing? and the answer(s) turned out to be quite informative.
Al Jazeera's ...
- 3,439
0
votes
4
answers
1k
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Creating an Assembly Drawing for Fabrication Houses
I have a design for a PCB that I have been thinking about producing. One thing that I have found is that I need is something called an assembly drawing. So far, all I have been able to come up with is ...
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0
votes
2
answers
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I have sketched my integrated circuit for an RFID tag. How do I make it to a real physical product?
I'm in a situation where I want to create a real prototype of an RFID tag. I have sketched all the IC in a paper. I got a problem, I want to build this to a real size RFID tag and we want to create ...
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0
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1
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For a 'customized' arduino consuming less energy making use of Attiny85 vs PCB Fabrication?
Currently I am working on a prototype project where I try to move a servo (6V) according to the level of light that is recognized by a photodiode making use of the ISR function. A torch light is used ...
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