New embedded system development facility

Translation: We have a few lashed-together in-house products and someone said "Hey, we could sell this dross!"

Translation: Please do my job for me.

I suspect that you're going about this backwards, or perhaps sideways. If you first decide how many developers you need, then the capacity of the processors, you will only succeed if you happen to luck out with a set of tasks that fit that size team and that size processor.

I think that you'd be much better off having someone come in (a permanent or temporary business partner, perhaps) to look at what you want to do, translate your requirements into something that a development team might like to see, then make some educated guesses about the size of said development team and the requirements on the processor.

I notice that you seem to want to start up-front with a processor choice. If I were in charge of this effort I would make some general decisions about the capabilities required from the processor and deduce the processor size, then get input from the actual team on the processor selection. I would do this because everyone has their own likes and dislikes in processors, and getting to select the first processor will make for a happier team. Part of the processor selection process should be the selection of tool chain and RTOS (if necessary) -- tool, processor and RTOS selection all interact somewhat, so it's best to make the decisions at once.

I would make sure that each electrical and software engineer has their own scope. In general the software guys just need scopes that will let them see signals wiggle, and the electrical guys will need better scopes to see _how_ the signals are wiggling. I'd get name-brand (Agilent, Tek, LeCroy) scopes -- compare the cost of the engineer against the cost of the scope; even if you're setting up in China it makes sense to speed them on their way with good equipment.

The skill set should reflect what you're building. At a guess I'd say you need some good basic digital, some embedded software, and probably some general-purpose or power analog -- but as I said, that's just a guess.

I don't know what the expectation is for amenities in your area, but where I come from you can have weight rooms and swimming pools and even dancing girls -- but if management treats the engineers like dirt they'll be unhappy and it'll show in their work. Conversely you can get amazing things done in a poorly heated building with smells and noises if the team really feels appreciated. Best, of course, is good management, a warm room, _and_ dancers, but that's a rare work environment.

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Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Posting from Google?  See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/

Hi Larwe, I have a few clarifications

1)The applications are presently Solid state systems - served their good life already.Hence we are driven by our customers to upgrade the controls and not the other way as u mentioned.

2) I do not intend to ask others to do my job :-) Forum or no Forum, a facility will be there six months from now. Pl do not translate others requirements & project your opinion on them

Thanks for your time & comments

karthikeyan

Dear wescott, Thanks for those valuable views,

1) I will take the team into confidence before decision on architecture.

2)Your views on measurement tools is agreed.The team is free to play around within the given outlay.

3)My coincern is to After sales service,user training & warrantee conditions in this industry.

I am blank about these embedded field.

Our office has its standard contract phrases but it is prepared with COTS automation systems context.

I would like to know if any special cautions to be taken in these area during buying development tools & test devices.

Just a check so that i dont miss the obvious :-)

Thanks again for those valuable suggestions.

btw, I am planning to dcoument the process as it happens -on this forum

Dear wescott, Thanks for those valuable views,

1) I will take the team into confidence before decision on architecture.

2)Your views on measurement tools is agreed.The team is free to play around within the given outlay.

3)My coincern is to After sales service,user training & warrantee conditions in this industry.

I am blank about these embedded field.

Our office has its standard contract phrases but it is prepared with COTS automation systems context.

I would like to know if any special cautions to be taken in these area during buying development tools & test devices.

Just a check so that i dont miss the obvious :-)

Thanks again for those valuable suggestions.

btw, I am planning to dcoument the process as it happens -on this forum

One of the biggest questions for me is make or buy. There are a lot of companies selling automation products. You can save precious time to market by buying proven products and integrating, rather than designing from scratch. Later, after you have proven the market for your new products, you can do lower level design and customization to better match your customer needs and reduce cost.

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Thad