ML Electronics Ltd, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Electronics Product Design Consultancy
My responsibilities included managing projects to create software and electronic products from concept through to manufacture. Part of a mixed skilled team of six engineers my main role was writing software. I reported to the engineering manager. This involved embedded software for microcontrollers and PC software to interact with the hardware in VB 6 and then later VB.NET.
The role was for a design agency where I was sponsored into software for microcontrollers. At first, it was difficult to understand how to get a physical response from the chipsets just from using C code. I quickly go to understand how the code could create actions on the hardware. Basically, by putting bytes of data into different memory locations you can controller different hardware functions. These are called registers. Micro-controllers have built-in memory for the program and RAM. I also worked on simple circuit design guided by our lead electronics expert.
Some of the projects I worked on are as follows:
didBOX
A licensing system for drivers using digital keyfobs (called iButtons) was jointly worked on with other engineers. There was a corporate buy out of didBox Ltd details here.
Olive Domestic Metering
This was a system that could read values from digital electricity meters in the home and display readings and energy use with cost estimates to the homeowner. It was cutting-edge and before its time but really interesting. I’ve noted the home meter I have has the same optical interface that we accessed!
Medical Monitoring Device Upgrade
I had to upgrade an analogue display with a digital version. For this project, I used an analogue to digital converter with another digital output chip. I also used a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) between the two digital chips but had another engineer do the visual programming for the CPLD, which I later finished myself. The CPLD was programmed to convert the digital signs from one digital chip to another. This was a high-speed circuit using the manufacture’s guidelines. There were parallel data lines kept to strictly short lengths, and the lengths of the tracks had to be even. I laid out this circuit myself from the recommended circuits from the different chips. Then had it signed off by the lead engineer. I had to fully document the companies guidelines and processes and submit these to the Food-Drug Administration (FDA). This device also is subject to risk assessment for patient safety. Trust me when I say, a high-speed digital scope was a very useful tool to debug this!
PlasmaJet
I worked on the initial firmware for the PlasmaJet device. I also did the printed circuit board (PCB) layout following the hand-drawn circuits from our lead engineer. This involved draw the circuit on the OrCAD system and laying out the PCB, building the parts lists as part of our prototyping and manufacturing guidelines. I also added new parts to our parts library by either following datasheets or using callipers on the part to do the correct layout for the computer-aid design (CAD).
VES Heating System Control Boards
I worked on heating system control boards programming the microcontrollers to do temperature readings using analogue to digital converter (ADC) inputs and relay switching for power control. I also did the circuit entry from our lead engineer’s hand-drawn circuits and then did the PCB layout, parts lists and supporting documents for manufacture. Our lead engineer did the sign-off on the PCB design and do a final check on circuit values. I.e. Resistor values, capacitor values etc…
Notes about work…
Together our team did well over 100 projects, I can’t even remember them all. It was stressful sometimes but it does not get much more interesting working in the electronics field on a varied array of products. I work on military and medical products. We worked on a taxi communications systems. It was a design consultancy…
GPS tracking systems (prior to car guidance systems), mobile data systems, life support monitoring upgrades, intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring, industrial control, data logging, automobile systems research and development, touch-screen control (prior to wide adoption on consumer products) all manor of electronics design with software. This was all cutting edge technology before wider consumer adoption.
Just a note in memory of my friend…
Sadly one of my friends and work colleagues Desmond Moors, that worked alongside us as a Design Engineer, died in a road traffic collision whilst out on his motorcycle one weekend in 2006. These things happen unexpectedly sometimes and did catch us by surprise. I was married and with a young child at the time which made it a little easier as the young ones remind us that life regenerates.