The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast

Today’s episode is sponsored by Mouser Electronics. They are on the show talking about predictive maintenance this week and how the technology will change industries like automotive and industrial processing. To learn more, check out TheAmpHour.com/predictive.

Welcome Pete Staples of Blue Clover Devices!

• Blue Clover Devices (BCD) is “The IOT ODM“
• ODMs are a flavor of CM where they do more of the design work
• Busy EEs use their services to take on more of the design work
• Most products are on a 9 month cycle. Some smaller designs (like a recent SiFive dev board) are shorter timelines.
• Facilities:
  • Started in LA
  • Shenzhen
  • Now have an SF office (where Pete is located)
• They reluctantly started mfg in China, because CMs wouldn’t take on the work.
• The factory started with “Screwdriver work” (assembly), but have moved on to PCBA and precision cable
• Core of workers help to mentor younger workers
• Pete took an MBA class in operations but he didn’t expect the difficulties with manufacturing
• Container party
• Taking stuff to china: comes down to economics. Doing it for products making less than $1M per year doesn’t make much sense.
• Learn manufacturing locally first.
• Pete checked out CMs in the bay area and didn’t think they could add much value otherwise.
• Devices like the LPKF and Nano Dimension Dragon Fly aren’t good substitutes for a PCB house
• BCD’s flagship product is the PLT
  • PLT200 – targets IoT devices like nRF52 (described in Embedded.fm episode)
  • PLT300 – targets Linux devices
• The PLT acts as a bridge between developers and factory
• Programming and testing devices on a line
• Internally:
  • Programmable power supply
  • Souped up JLink
  • DMM
    • Volage
    • Current
    • Freq counter
  • Linux computer
  • UART interaction as well
  • CAN bus
• Many test stands are Labview based, so they are tied to that location
• With the PLT, can have one in the US and one in the factory
• Revision control and using CI/CD
• Not built for design validation (like NI or test equipment mfg)
• How does PLT talk back?
  • PLT cloud – a portal to manage devices
  • Needs to be a secure connection
  • Slack app integration
• The PLT hooks to the ICT (In Circuit Tester)
• Supports 48 digital and 45 analog test points
• The cassette is custom, but can be used again with future designs
• Webhooks allow for pulling serial numbers
• Box is enrolled to an organization
• PLTs used in China
  • Not blocked, but network isn’t always reliable
  • Needs internet to work
• YAML test script
• Different steps might be connecting up to the PLT
• Test Plan Reference
• Scanner / label printer works at a lower level than Jan was talking about on the show
• Release can be Zebra label format
• How is data being used?
• Example: product with 3 circuit boards
• Gage R&R
• PLT running Zephyr and linux
• Trends: things are going up market and have more Linux in them. There will still be a separation due to power, cost.
• Blue Clover is working on having less environmental impact after the pandemic
  • Working with people in the climate neutral community
  • Food and apparel have talked about sourcing their materials
• Check out bcdevices.com for more info
• Twitter @petestaples
• To get a free USB cable: email pete@bcdevices.com