Mitsi was asked to perform a technical audit of a new
generation automotive burglar alarm for OEM use in automobiles. The client
was behind schedule after a year of development, and could not meet their
customers requirements.
The client had already promised the Ford Motor Company
that the new product would be available in only sixty days. A major
contract could be lost if the product was not ready.
The gate array that had been designed was not working, and
it could not be made to work without a major re-design effort taking many
months. Also, the design was intended to fit completely within a single
housing, and there was no room for all of the circuits.
SOLUTION
Mitsi proposed a redesigned automotive burglar alarm that
would use a one-time programmable microcomputer instead of a gate array.
The long lead time for parts was eliminated, and the software could be
easily modified after testing without waiting for new mask parts.
A high temperature plastic housing was needed to hold the
electronics between the firewall and exhaust pipe. By working closely with
a local plastics prototype house, we were able to modify the tooling
drawings to allow the necessary electronics to fit.
The electronics for the relays, horn, vibration sensors,
battery backup, radio receiver and hand-held two-transistor key ring radio
transmitter were completely redesigned. A printed circuit card was
designed to fit the new plastics housings.
Software was developed using assemblers and simulators on
our local area network. A key ring demodulator circuit was eliminated by
careful software code writing.
RESULTS
After many hours of hard work, the design was proven. A
completely functional system was shipped to Ford for testing on the 60th
day of the project.
