Quote from: BIGMERVE on September 26, 2012, 03:27:53 AM

So they only have basic 3d drafts done? Shouldn't they have made these designs way before they even asked for money?

There are several steps involved in the type of project that BFL is doing. Here's a general overview of the procedure they might be following. We do this where I work, but in general, we don't do step #1 because we use off the shelf parts in most products.

If you need money to complete the steps, I guess you have to ask for it up front .

1a) ASIC (or whatever they are using) design:

The engineers will define the interfaces of the ASIC (power, digital and analog interfaces), and also decide at a high level how the guts of the chip will be put together (think block diagram).

1b)Implementation:

During this step, the designers work on implement the guts of the hashing chip and laying it out in the chip based on step 1.

1c)ASIC manufacture:

At this point, BFL will know how to use their ASIC (what the pinouts are and how to talk to the chip). All that is left is for the fab to actually make the chip. The fab or other company may also test the chip based on test vectors provided by BFL. BFL may also do this in house on the final PCB or a test PCB.

2) Schematic capture / system design - deciding which other electronic components in addition to the ASICs are required, and hooking them all together. This step can be started even before step 1 is complete. Once step 1a is complete, the ASICs can be hooked up once the final pinouts and communication/power requirements are known, completing step 2.

3) Mechanical design:

How big can the PCB be? Where do we place the parts on the PCB to make them fit? How much clearance do you have? How much heat has to be dissipated (airflow/heatsink requirements)? This step would normally happen in parallel with #2.

The picture in the OP is the result of #3 with input from #2 and #4 (because the PCB routing can change where parts are placed). However, the picture does not actually mean that step 4 is complete. However, It might be finished because there is top/bottom layer routing that is visible. Based on their proposed release date, either they have the boards already or are just waiting for them to arrive.

4) PCB part placement and routing:

Based on the data gathered from #3, the electrical design team must actually place the required parts determined in step 2. Once the parts are placed on the PCB, the actual components must be connected as per step 2. The parts are connected via traces on multiple layers on the PCB. During this step, parts may also be moved around to make the routing easier.

5) PCB manufacturing and assembly:

A company manufactures the PCB and then places and solders the req5ired components onto the board.

6) Turn on and test

Now it's time for BFL to get the board, and figure out what actually happens when they turn on the power... Errors that were not caught during the previous ste6s may be correctable with mods.

7) Done??

If all goes well, the product is finished! Any problems that could not be corrected by mods will require you to create a new version of the board or ASIC.