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Merry Keyzermas! Welcome again, Jeff Keyzer!
- Jeff is still selling his Geiger counter kits.
- He has been working on Valve on the Steam Controller
- Part of the process for high volume manufacturing is doing Monte Carlo analysis.
- If you haven’t seen it yet, the video of the the Steam Controller is amazing!
- Chris asked about using the Steam controller for layout but it doesn’t seem like a good fit. Dave and Jeff use space navigators with Altium.
- Jeff has a go-kit. He brings it everytime he goes to China
- DMM
- USB digital microscope – the dino-lite
- Tweezers
- Spudgers
- Soldering supplies
- Gloves sized for Jeff
- Finger cots (magnum sized)
- Dealing with part switching due to sourcing issues is an ongoing process.
- Paper qual – if the datasheet looks good
- Full qualification – test rigs and sample builds
- Jeff uses OneNote (Chris uses Evernote) for documenting projects over the product lifecycle. A paper trail is very important.
- iFixit teardown of the Steam controller.
- Chris asked about the reliability of Chinese manufacturers. Dave has been reading a book called Poorly Made in China. Jeff says the most important thing is representing the interests of the company paying for the manufacturing (often with an employee on the ground).
- Jeff has turned into the “Quality Tzar”, making sure the boards are up to snuff. Using the USB microscope, he shares problems he finds with boards. A picture is worth a 1000 words.
- The level of competence in china is so high because they have consumer electronics experience. Getting to the point of “steady state” manufacturing will help you maintain quality.
- Rework adds uncertainty and sometimes it’s not worth it. For a finished goods product that is $49.99 retail the decisions are different than for a $4K board. The value of time is a big factor.
- Could this all be done stateside? It’s very dependent on the support and the supply chain. In China, there’s no issue that can’t be solved within one day (with a mfg rep).
We always love when Jeff stops by! Don’t forget to follow @mightyohm on twitter!
Image courtesy of Jeff’s face and Chris’s family’s house
All-ways enjoy your show today I’m working so its extra nice.
On does not simply “Close the Door” into Mordor
Question for Jeff – which model of Dino-lite do you recommend?
Thanks!
I use the Dino-lite AM4113T. I wrote a blog post about it earlier this year:
http://mightyohm.com/blog/2015/04/cool-tools-dino-lite-am4113t-usb-digital-microscope/
There’s a kickstarter for a microscope add-on that looks intersting:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/754265265/peek-the-professional-microscope-that-fits-in-your/description
Bunnie had a good talk about how “open source”, schematics, gerbers, source code, is just the tip of the iceberg. He recounts his recent production experience going from a simple little wearable gadget, all the way up to supply/assembly and testing.
They always say ideas are cheap, but it sounds like even having a working prototype is… meh…. the real meat on the bone, comes after all that!
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4527