Development of modern embedded electronics (PCB) for a small-volume production

Modern consumer and embedded electronics are becoming more complex and intelligent systems each day and their implementation puts a great challenge in front of the designers. Special functions call for specific hardware solutions that are not common in a commercially available platforms. This paper presents tha gained experience and lessons learned from number of projects realized as cooperation between a small company and a university. Typical problems are addressed that are characteristic for the small companies that are limited with manufacturability volumes for a boards in the hundreds range. Some practical problems regarding development, some common difficulties and project-specific problems are shown. The emphasis is put on a small scale production which is very important since it is a standard in almost all industrial areas and especially in a rapid prototyping of consumer electronics and embedded systems.