The system level application understanding of purpose, installation and life are addressed with the design of mechanical housings that interface to the vehicle while protecting the electronics from the environments and provide thermal management for generated heat. The dissection of high level system requirements into low level hardware functional requirements are implemented in the design of electronic printed circuits boards.

Schematic Capture

The schematic capture implements high-level hardware requirements in circuit design. Industry standard tools are used in conjunction with OpenECU’s component library to generate detailed designs. By managing its own library of components, Dana can generate consistent, quality designs. This allows control over any component specified in the design, avoiding the use of unreviewed, inappropriate, or obsolete components. The schematic capture tool used allows different variants to be created, so that our designs can be easily customized for unique uses. Care is taken to maintain traceability of requirements, so the design will be able to meet all the specified functionality.

PCB Layout

Layout is done with the same tool used for schematic capture, ensuring that any design changes will be immediately reflected in the layout. The design engineer is able to work closely with the layout designer to have questions about specific design needs to be quickly resolved. All designs require consideration for EMC, heat dissipation, size, and cost. The layout designer works to optimize the design based around those considerations and will suggest changes to the electrical design if appropriate.