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‘Accuracy’ and ‘precision’ are used everyday conversation. While watching a hockey game, a fan might exclaim “That was a precision shot! He hit the five-hole from the blue line!” As engineer you may be tempted to clarify whether that shot was really precise, or whether it was accurate, or true.

If 90% of vehicles on the roads in the US were autonomous, fuel consumption would be reduced by 724 million gallons, 4.2 million accidents could be prevented, and 21,700 lives could be saved, according to a recent report from the Eno Center for Transportation.

Previously we discussed how accuracy and precision can mean different things depending on the context. Here’s an example to show how you might encounter these terms in an electronic product design, and how to ensure your design meets these specifications.

The worst fear of any electronic product company is that serious design issues will be uncovered after the product has shipped in volume. In 2010 the world experienced “Antennagate” when Apple customers reported dropped calls and poor reception with the iPhone 4.

The objective of environmental DVT is to verify that a prototype design satisfies product requirements for various environmental operating conditions such as temperature, humidity, altitude, water and dust exposures.

At Nuvation Engineering, starting a new product design means beginning with an Initial Design Engagement (IDE). This is the first phase of electronic product development for our clients (the only exceptions would be a swoop, or starting with a Phase 0).

Nuvation Engineering signed a 4-year agreement with researchers from the University of Waterloo. The research is conducted by the Waterloo Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory, which spearheads research in perception, planning, and coordination of autonomous vehicles.

Customers often did not have the product architecture and technology fundamentals selected when they started working with us, so we started getting involved in that phase of the design. Eventually we choose to distinguish that initial phase as a separate process.

The best way to achieve high levels of system reliability in a complex, fast moving development cycle is to have a suite of automated tests continuously verifying your design. Here are some tips and tricks for getting a solid automated embedded design testing flow up and running.

We press mechanical buttons hundreds of times a day on our cellphones or computer keyboards, and we take for granted that the desired action occurs imperceptibly quickly and only once. This behavior only occurs because of good engineering practices.