Re:APIs for Manufacturing
by robomartin on Saturday September 08, 2012 @04:56PM
(#4493962)
Not to mention fixture design and fabrication.
I am one of those rare engineers who is equally at home writing embedded software, web software, iOS software, workstation software, designing electronics hardware (from simple analog go GHz range FPGA's) as well as mechanical.
And, of course, as a total geek, I also jumped into the manufacturing processes for all of the above. I am equally at home in front of a SMT pick-and-place machine as I am in front of a VMC or a table-saw.
I have to tell you that some of the most gut-wrenching design work I've had to face sometimes wasn't how to design the thing but figuring out how to actually make it. From specialized fixtures to custom tooling or a weird manufacturing process.
Frankly, this is some of the most valuable knowledge that our country is loosing to other shores as manufacturing continues to be decimated. It's one thing to know how to use a VMC. It is an entirely different thing to know how to engineer, setup and execute on an end-to-end manufacturing process.
I am one of those rare engineers who is equally at home writing embedded software, web software, iOS software, workstation software, designing electronics hardware (from simple analog go GHz range FPGA's) as well as mechanical.
And, of course, as a total geek, I also jumped into the manufacturing processes for all of the above. I am equally at home in front of a SMT pick-and-place machine as I am in front of a VMC or a table-saw.
I have to tell you that some of the most gut-wrenching design work I've had to face sometimes wasn't how to design the thing but figuring out how to actually make it. From specialized fixtures to custom tooling or a weird manufacturing process.
Frankly, this is some of the most valuable knowledge that our country is loosing to other shores as manufacturing continues to be decimated. It's one thing to know how to use a VMC. It is an entirely different thing to know how to engineer, setup and execute on an end-to-end manufacturing process.