The challenge: Could we produce a common PCBA that would cover all unforeseen future test cases and firmware support?
In short, yes! Because close collaboration is so important to how we work, we first set up a Slack channel and established weekly meetings with the Roche team. We also set up a project in Pivotal Tracker to track features, progress, and bugs.
Next, we worked with Amanda S., an electrical engineer at Roche, to put together a comprehensive product requirements document (PRD). We established that we would be delivering one compute module PCBA with firmware, and one backplane PCBA for testing. We talked about what success for this project should look like: successful testing of the compute module and firmware.
“Our team has deep experience in both firmware and hardware. That’s how we understood exactly what needed to be done, then moved into execution mode.”
After requirements gathering came hardware development, firmware development when the boards were sent for fabrication, then hardware testing once the boards returned. Finally, we performed firmware testing. Throughout this process, we had many technical conversations with Roche and held several technical reviews - a surprisingly uncommon but extremely useful practice in this space.
We’re making it sound easy, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Half way through the project, our liaison at Roche left the company. With no time to waste, we quickly worked to get our new Roche collaborator onboarded with a strong understanding of our main goal, where we were in the development process, and what would be needed from both Roche and Intercreate to deliver. Soon, the PCBAs were ready. In just five months, we
had a custom-made compute module that exposed all firmware interfaces (CAN, I2C, PWM, IOLink) to a backplane PCBA. With the Roche team, we celebrated that we hit our additional goal - being on time and on budget.
This project was particularly meaningful for us. Roche is an inspiring legacy organization that has done a lot of good in the world.
