Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1219242
MARCH 2020 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 11 a train wreck. And Brad Griffin of Cadence Design Systems looks into how the company helps designers stay in the black by auto- mating time-consuming tasks. Plus, we have columns from our regular contributors Barry Olney, Stephen Chavez, Alistair Little, and Bob Tise and Matt Stevenson. In Flex007, Tara Dunn asks, "Are you un- intentionally adding cost?" She explores why cost-aware design for flex and rigid-flex circuits can be so much more difficult than for their rigid brethren. Joe Fjelstad focuses on how all of the "design fors,"—such as DFM, DFA, and DFE—contribute to profitability. And we have an interview with Carey Burkett of Flexible Circuit Technologies, who discusses the com- pany's growth from a flex maker into a compa- ny that provides assembly and box-build ser- vices. Does your company stress DFP as one of its major concerns? Let me know. Until next month, take care. DESIGN007 Andy Shaughnessy is managing editor of Design007 Magazine. He has been covering PCB design for 19 years. He can be reached by clicking here. parently, most CAD managers are well aware of the designers' power to massage costs; some engineering managers believe that up to 80% of the board's cost can be determined during the design cycle. Some designers are also being tasked with making cost-aware de- sign decisions each day. Designers—already forced into thinking like degreed engineers, often making system-level decisions—must now think like accountants as well. This month, we asked our experts to weigh in on the best DFP strategies and how this can affect the entire PCB development cycle. We start with an interview with Al Neves of Wild River Technology, who explains why DFP is impossible without good processes, great management, and designers and engineers who continue to educate themselves, even after 30 years of experience. Next, Todd Wester- hoff of Mentor, a Siemens Business, discuss- es how seemingly small problems can lead to increased costs and why accessible simula- tion tools can help designers make cost-aware decisions. Chris Banton of EMA Design Au- tomation outlines why providing designers with the right data early on can make the difference between a profitable design and Robotic Research has announced that it will begin test- ing fully autonomous low-speed shuttles that are totally unmanned in the second quarter of this year. "Through our work with the U.S. government over the past four years, we have already demonstrated that ful- ly autonomous trucks are a reality. We are committed to making our shuttle and bus manufacturing partners suc- cessful by accelerating state-of-the-art technologies for unmanned vehicles ahead of regulatory agencies' prog- ress," said Alberto Lacaze, president of Robotic Research. Robotic Research has been developing and testing un- manned, autonomous operations for a wide range of ve- hicles for nearly a decade. The company currently pro- vides autonomy kits that fully automate logistics convoy trucks for the U.S. government and several of its allied na- tion partners. Nearly 100 trucks have already been de- livered. The tests for these vehicles have included oper- ations with no safety attendants on board, with a single operator monitoring three unmanned vehicles. Robotic Research's AutoDrive autonomy kit is platform agnostic and can be retrofitted to vehicles of all sizes, from small, portable robots to large trucks and buses. The system provides autonomous functionality on surfaces ranging from urban-improved roads to off-road terrain, all while the vehicle is collecting and analyzing data to bet- ter enhance the future of autonomous vehicles and trans- portation. (Source: Robotic Research) Robotic Research to Start Testing Fully Autonomous Unmanned Shuttles