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How can electronic engineers make their systems more modular and easier to maintain?

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Modularity and maintainability are two important aspects of electronic engineering that can improve the performance, reliability, and usability of your systems. In this article, you will learn some practical tips and techniques to make your systems more modular and easier to maintain, whether you are working on hardware, software, or both.

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Petr Dvo?ák

#ThatKiCADguy :: Content creator :: HW designer :: (He/Him)

1 What is modularity?

Modularity is the degree to which a system is composed of independent and interchangeable components that can be combined or reconfigured in different ways, and it has several advantages for electronic engineering. Modularity reduces complexity and increases clarity by dividing a large system into smaller and simpler parts. It also enhances flexibility and scalability by allowing you to add, remove, or replace components without affecting the rest of the system. Moreover, it improves reusability and efficiency by enabling you to reuse existing components for different purposes or projects, as well as facilitating testing and debugging by isolating and identifying faults in specific components.

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Petr Dvo?ák

#ThatKiCADguy :: Content creator :: HW designer :: (He/Him)
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Modularity, in my eyes, starts at the schematic level. When considering the required modularity, you build a hierarchical schematic more than a flat and one-level structure. Hierarchical blocks help to keep ideas and features separated innately.

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Tiitus Aho

| Tria | Sales Director | Management | OEM | Strategy | Key Account Management | Technology | Leadership | Innovation | P & L | Growth | B2B | Business | Coaching |
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Great thoughts. Modularity is the key to make sustainable products. It will leave space for innovaation and acceleration of new applications

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2 What is maintainability?

Maintainability is the ease with which a system can be modified, repaired, updated, or upgraded to meet changing requirements or fix problems. This is beneficial for electronic engineering in many ways, such as saving time and money, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, extending the lifespan and value of the system, and preventing errors and failures. By reducing the need for frequent or costly interventions or replacements, ensuring that the system works as expected and meets their needs, keeping it up to date and functional, and detecting and correcting issues before they become serious or irreversible, maintainability can be a great asset.

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Petr Dvo?ák

#ThatKiCADguy :: Content creator :: HW designer :: (He/Him)
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Regarding maintainability, the top requirement is a complete understanding of the schematic. The previously mentioned hierarchical blocks make the comprehension level high even for non-authors or engineers who have not participated in the schematic creation.

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3 How to design modular hardware?

Designing modular hardware requires the use of standardized interfaces and connectors that allow components to be connected easily and securely. Examples of common interfaces and connectors include USB (Universal Serial Bus) for data transfer and power supply, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) for audio and video signals, RJ45 (Registered Jack 45) for Ethernet cables, and GPIO (General-Purpose Input/Output) pins for various purposes. Additionally, modular boards or platforms provide basic functionality and features that can be customized or expanded with additional modules or accessories. Popular examples include Arduino, a microcontroller-based open-source platform; Raspberry Pi, a low-cost computer; and Lego Mindstorms, a robotics kit consisting of programmable bricks, motors, sensors, and gears.

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Petr Dvo?ák

#ThatKiCADguy :: Content creator :: HW designer :: (He/Him)
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Modular hardware stands and falls with interfaces. Interfaces make borders between blocks and modules. Standard and well-known interfaces make development, debugging and reparation easier. A skilled engineer who understands the principles of the used interfaces can start with their job in no time.

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4 How to design modular software?

Designing modular software requires the use of modular programming, a technique for writing code that consists of separate, independent modules that can be reused or combined. Modular programming has several advantages, such as improving readability and maintainability by organizing code into logical units with clear inputs and outputs, enhancing modifiability and portability by allowing modules to be changed or moved without affecting the rest of the code, and promoting collaboration and integration by enabling the sharing or importing of modules from other sources. Additionally, modular architectures are frameworks or patterns that define how the modules interact with each other and with the external environment. Examples of modular architectures include: Model-View-Controller (MVC), which separates data (model), user interface (view), and logic (controller); Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), which treats modules as services that can be accessed and composed through standard protocols and interfaces; and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), which treats modules as objects with attributes and methods that can be grouped into classes and hierarchies.

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5 How to maintain modular systems?

One of the key aspects of maintaining modular systems is to use documentation, which is the process of creating and updating records that describe the structure, functionality, and specifications of your system. Documentation serves a number of purposes, such as providing guidance and reference for yourself and others who use or modify your system, ensuring consistency and quality by following standards and conventions for naming, formatting, and commenting your system, and facilitating troubleshooting and debugging by explaining how your system works. Additionally, version control is another important practice for maintaining modular systems; it tracks and manages changes to your system over time. Benefits of version control include preserving history and accountability by recording who, when, and why made changes to your system, enabling collaboration and synchronization by allowing you to share and merge changes with other contributors or branches, and supporting experimentation and testing by allowing you to create different versions or snapshots of your system.

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Petr Dvo?ák

#ThatKiCADguy :: Content creator :: HW designer :: (He/Him)
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The aspect of high-quality documentation is a valid point to discussion. The less complex the design is the less extensive the documentation can be. Hierarchical blocks are much easier to document and describe than extensive flat schematics. Start with describing the first block and limit your points only to the particular block.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can electronic engineers make their systems more modular and easier to maintain?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 What is modularity?

2 What is maintainability?

3 How to design modular hardware?

4 How to design modular software?

5 How to maintain modular systems?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Electronic Engineering

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How can electronic engineers make their systems more modular and easier to maintain?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 What is modularity?

2 What is maintainability?

3 How to design modular hardware?

4 How to design modular software?

5 How to maintain modular systems?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Electronic Engineering

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