Best Practices for Quality
To arrive at high quality electronics projects many things are
important. Some of these recipes are described in a formal way, while
others are more seen as good practices that are more like part of a
'culture'.
This page aims to capture these "best practices for quality" of CERN's
hardware and timing section.
Projects
Each project should have all of its documentation available from one place. This increases re-use and feedback.
- Every project, even very small, needs an project on ohwr.org
(default) or on the company internal wikis (only if very company
specific, should be exceptional).
- Sections: Project description, an image, Specification, Project information, Contacts, Status
- See OHWR Projects Recommended setup & usage
- Every project needs a review for each step, starting from the
requirements specification.
- See Schematics design reviews and
in general the Electronics Design project on ohwr.org.
- See also Hardware development procedure on CERN wikis (CERN only)
- See Schematics design reviews and
in general the Electronics Design project on ohwr.org.
Documentation
Good documentation reduces the workload and shows a professional image of the project.
- The Status on the project page should be up-to-date. It should be maximum two months behind reality. Active projects should have an entry at least every 6 months.
- Any problem or suggestion given by users should be documented in an Issue. From there it can be documented and discussed when and how to handle.
- Questions asked should be answered by pointers to manuals and FAQs.
- If this is not possible, it is an indicator that the documentation is not complete.
- If needed, create a FAQ or Issue before answering.
- Presentations: add a link to each presentation that has been given.
- Design reviews: present the full results of design reviews and the resulting actions that have been taken.
Planning
Good planning helps to set the right priority on tasks and is primordial to keep the workload under control.
- Any new work that comes in and that will take longer than two days should be discussed and planned with the planning officer.
- Hold a global planning meeting every months where major milestones
and projects of the design team are decided.
- See Task Planning.
Handling of electronics
Careful handling of electronics boards reduces unforeseen problems and therefore cost.
- Always handle cards with ESD precaution (ground oneself, use
grounded workplace, etc.).
- Notably for prototypes as they may end up in an operational system while being manipulated a lot.
- All unused (unplugged) cards should be protected without an ESD bag and stored in an appropriate place (i.e., not on an office desk or lab desk).
- Never put assembled cards directly on top of each other without protection (use at least an ESD bag and preferable also store separately in a box).
- Inform colleagues about the above when receiving cards without ESD bags.
Erik van der Bij - 28 June 2016