At a Glance
One of the client design team had determined that the central microcontroller (MCU) would need the processing power of a 16-bit core. Implementation of Microchip PIC24FJ256GA705 MCU was the ideal product to provide the main control and interface functions of their design.
The Challenges Faced by the Client
For several years, Client Engineering worked with a client to provide engineering services for already-existing appliance designs. In 2019, the client asked Client Engineering to increase their participation by working together on a fresh design for several under-counter dishwashers to incorporate to keep up with market trends and new user interface updates. The new product line would include a LCD for Human-Machine Interface (HMI), production testing built into the firmware and hardware design, and a configuration text file that could be loaded by SD card. The system design, including firmware design, development, and testing, was the responsibility of Client Engineering.
As per the design team, to handle all of the interfaces, the MCU would need a parallel bus, two SPI ports, one UART, analog pins, and digital Input/ Output (I/O). They would need power management devices to support the specific voltage rails and current requirements of the design and an SPI-to-WiFi network controller. In addition to this, on the development side, the Client wanted advanced tools that would facilitate their development and enable them to complete their design quickly and efficiently.
