Chapter 16: Developing Commercial

Products with mbed rt rev. 12.9.16

If you use or reference these slides or the associated textbook, please cite the original authors’ work as follows:
Toulson, R. & Wilmshurst, T. (2016). Fast and Effective Embedded Systems Design - Applying the ARM mbed
(2nd edition), Newnes, Oxford, ISBN: 978-0-08-100880-5.
www.embedded-knowhow.co.uk
Embedded systems design process
Rapid prototyping is an essential part of the design process, as it is the point where
engineers need to see if a design concept will work and how it should be implemented in
hardware and software.

The speed of this process is important, because companies need to know where to
invest their research and development resources and which products to develop into
mass market systems.

The mbed is an excellent device for accelerating this process as its ease of use and high
level libraries allow continuous testing during the prototyping and proof of concept
cycle.The easier it is to test a system, the easier it is to develop accurate solutions in a
short space of time.

There comes a time however when, if a prototype proves successful, a developer will
wish to consider how the system could be engineered for mass manufacture and
consumer use.

At this stage a number of issues should be considered, in particular size, cost, power
consumption, manufacturing methods, component availability and reliability, and quality
control.
Embedded systems design process

This figure summarises a

product design cycle, from
initial idea and concept
development, through
prototyping to final
commercialisation.

The role and value of the

mbed in the proof of concept
phase can be very clearly
seen.

Although the mbed is

designed as a rapid
prototyping device, it is
intended to allow a simple
development path from
prototyping to
commercialisation.
Embedded systems design process
• Once a project concept has been identified, it is normal to develop a product design specification,
which details all the features and functionality that the product should include.

• It may also be valuable to identify use cases, which define a list of actions and scenarios that a user
may expect to use the product in. Use case analysis can also include failure cases, where the user is
expected to mis-use the product, or it can consider scenarios where the product is accidentally
damaged or used in unexpected situations.

• Once the initial product design specification is in place, the embedded system design process
usually moves to the proof of concept stage, which relies heavily on rapid prototyping, simulation
and testing.

• Once the concept and design has been successfully prototyped and tested, the developers will
have confidence to commercialise and launch the new product.

• At this stage a number of design stages will need to be implemented specifically with mass-
manufacturing in mind. Mass-manufacturing will require a verified final circuit diagram and a PCB
design that can be ordered in large quantities, ideally with components populated by the PCB
manufacturer.

• It may also be necessary to minimize the size of components and the board as much as possible
and to source the lowest price components that will realise the design without compromising the
quality or performance of the product.
Embedded systems design process
• Once the design-for-manufacture stage is complete, the final productcan be tested for the first
time in the environment it is designed for – we often call this field testing.

• Field testing allows the developers to consider the user-experience of the product and to evaluate
if it performs in a way that resolves a consumer need or gives functionality that existing products
do not.

• During field testing it is important to test for robustness and reliability:

• Reliability is the idea that a product will continue to perform its intended task over and over again in all
environments that it is designed for.

• Robustness moreover refers to the ability of a product to continue to work effectively in situations that it
wasn’t designed for, such as in extreme temperatures or after being dropped from a height, so it is also
often necessary to test these conditions also.

• Robustness and reliability testing also involves legislative tests to confirm that products are safe and
confirm to relevant regulations.

• One common necessity for electronic products is electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing,
which confirms that products continue to work correctly in the presence of electromagnetic
radiation.

• When all testing is complete, the product can be launched, which will involve the creation of
packaging and a user manual, as well as marketing and launch materials.
Using mbed enabled platforms in commercial products
The mbed LPC1768is designed as a specific rapid-prototyping device, meaning that it is a relatively
expensive component (with a recommended retail price of $49), which would make its inclusion in
simple low-cost products unfeasible.

A number of more cost-effective mbed enabled platforms exist that are much more suited for inclusion
in commercial products; two such platforms are the NXP FRDM-K64F and the NXP FRDM-KL25Z.

NXP FRDM-K64F NXP FRDM-KL25Z

Comparison chart between example mbed platforms
mbed platform
Feature LPC1768 FRDM-K64F FRDM-KL25Z
Retail price $49 $35 $15
ARM Cortex Chip M3 M4 M0
Clock Speed 96 MHz 120 MHz 48 MHz
Flash Memory 512 KB 1024 KB 128 KB
RAM 32 KB 256 KB 16 KB
Digital IO 26 42 55
PWM 6 12 24
Analogue In 6 x 12-bit 12 x 16-bit 6 x 16-bit
Analogue Out 1 x 10-bit 2 x 12-bit 1 x 12-bit
Serial Ports Ethernet Ethernet USB
USB USB 2 x SPI
2 x SPI 3 x SPI 2 x I2C
2 x I2C 3 x I2C 3 x UART
3 x UART 6 x UART
1 x I2S 1 x I2S

On-Board Features 4 x LEDs RGB LED RGB LED

Ethernet socket USB host socket
USB host socket 3-axis accelerometer
3 x analog comparators Capacitive touch sensor
Implementing the mbed architecture on a bespoke PCB

Where thousands of units are to be developed and sold, cost becomes very important –
clearly reducing the electronics cost by $1 equates to $100,000 total if 100,000 products
are to be manufactured and sold.

Additionally, the mbed platforms may be too power hungry for your product, which
might need to be battery powered - so you are keen to develop you own, more efficient,
power management circuitry.

Size may also be an issue; you might be developing a product for use in a very small
space and the mbed platforms are just not small enough for your application.

It can therefore be desirable to implement the mbed hardware components on a custom

printed circuit board design, in order to minimize the number of electronic components
used and hence reduce size, cost and/or power.

For example, the USB hardware features on the mbed (those which allow drag and drop
downloading of the .bin file) are only required for prototyping. Furthermore, if the
application doesn’t use Ethernet, then the Ethernet features can be left off the PCB
design too.
Implementing the mbed architecture on a bespoke PCB

An excellent open access example is presented by developer Martin Smith on the mbed
website. The example describes the circuit diagram for a prototype PCB layout, which
utilises the LPC1768 and supports code developed in the mbed programming
environment.

The circuit diagrams for power supply rails, external ADC chip, the LPC1768 itself and a
number of other peripheral are included, as well as links to download the PCB
manufacture files that have been drawn in a design and prototyping package called
Eagle.
Programming the LPC1768 directly

Once a PCB based on the LPC1768 chip has been prototyped, it is necessary to program the device.
However, with the bespoke PCB there is no luxury of the onboard USB drag and drop feature that is
provided by the standard mbed platform.

The LPC1768 can be programmed though the In System Programming (ISP) protocol using the LCP1768
flash boot loader code. The boot loader code runs every time the LPC1768 is powered up or reset, and
it is possible to inform the device that new program code is to be loaded into flash memory.

An excellent way to send the serial data to the LPC1768 is using another mbed LPC1768 as a
communications bridge. It is possible to connect the mbed to a host terminal application and use
control code to pass through serial ASCII messages from the mbed to the LPC1768 that is being
programmed.

Read further:
Full details on programming
a bespoke mbed PCB with
the ISP protocol is given in
Section 16.4
Case study: Irisense temperature logger with touchscreen display
Irisense Ltd, develop innovative measurement and control technologies for industrial
applications. In 2014 Irisense saw a market opportunity to develop a miniature
temperature logger with a touch screen interface.

They knew if they could develop this product quickly then they could corner a growing
market and release a product that would put them ahead of their competitors. Irisense
utilized the mbed platform in their proof of concept and prototyping development of
their Excelog Temperature Logger

The early rapid prototyping quickly showed

that a temperature logger with a touch
screen interface could easily be developed
and mass-manufactured with the mbed
platform.

Once the initial prototyping was complete,

Irisense developed their own mass-
manufacture printed circuit board that is
based also on the mbed platform.
Case study: Irisense temperature logger with touchscreen display

The Excelog PCB is shows the LPC1768 chip and a number of other peripheral devices.
Case study: Irisense temperature logger with touchscreen display

Dr Tim Barry of Irisense Ltd explains that:

“before mbed, the proof of concept stage took many months of design and
experimentation, whereas with the mbed this was reduced to approximately one month.”

“we probably wouldn't have taken on the Excelog project at all if it wasn’t for the mbed,
because the investment in R&D would have been too much for Irisense to risk.”

Irisense’s more recent products have all been developed first through mbed prototyping
and with an agile development that leads to mass-manufacture very quickly.

The result has been that Irisense can develop designs quickly and confidently, and realise
new products in a short space of time.

The ability to use the high level mbed libraries to improve the user experience of their
products, for example by incorporating touch screen displays, has been invaluable and
ensures that Irisense stay ahead of their competitors.
Chapter quiz questions

1. What is a product design specification?

2. What design processes are fundamental to the proof-of-concept stage of embedded systems
product development?

3. What activities make up the design-for-manufacture stage of embedded systems product

development?

4. What types of product testing are required at the commercialisation stage of embedded
systems product development?

5. What are the issues associated with incorporating the mbed LPC1768 in a commercial
product hardware design?

6. Describe the mbed Enabled program and how it can be of benefit to product manufacturers.

7. Describe the process for programming an LPC1768 directly in ISP mode, using the mbed as a
communications bridge.

8. What does CRP stand for? Describe the key features of CRP on the LPC1768.

9. What advantages and disadvantages are there when using a standalone development
environment, such as the Keil development tools, over the online mbed compiler?

10. What commercial benefits can product developers achieve by using the ARM mbed as a
rapid-prototyping platform.
Chapter review

 Developing embedded systems products usually involves design stages of ideas

generation, proof of concept, and commercialisation

 At the ideas stage, market research and brainstorming are used to develop design
concepts that realise successful products

 Proof of concept development involves rapid prototyping to quickly build and test potential
designs and products

 Commercialisation requires a specific design for manufacture stage which focuses on the
final hardware design and reducing component and manufacturing costs to realise a
viable product

 The mbed LPC1768 is generally too expensive to be included in mass manufacture

products, though the NXP FRDM-K64F and FRDM-KL25Z boards are lower cost
solutions that may be viable for use in some high cost and niche market products
 For mass-market products that will be sold in many thousands of units, a bespoke printed
circuit board design will be required. The PCB design can be built around the mbed
platform to allow smooth transition from prototyping to commercialisation.

 A bespoke mbed platform PCB can be programmed either through the LPC1768’s ISP or
JTAG interfaces.

 The Irisense Excelog product provides a case study of a successful commercial product
that utilised the mbed development platform as a basis for its design and functionality.