Tools to design a tablet

[jonwilhelmjr]

Hello everyone, I am a roboticist looking to design a tablet and a working robot to give to possible employers as a resume`.  I already have a EE degree to help me get started. So here is my question, what are the fundamental required tools do I need in order to design the tablet? I have a computer with eagle CAD, AUTOCAD, and every major compiler. I have a Rigol DP832. I think the only tool I need now is a oscilloscope that's better than the analog discovery. I really like the Agilent/Keysight DSO2xxx or DSO3xxx but what Mhz range? Will 100Mhz do the business or do I need a big more like the 500 Mhz? For those of you who are wondering if I have any experience in PCB design or hardware design. I have been designing pcbs for 8 bit micros and robots for a few years now. By taking on this new learning experience I fear I won't be able to continue using my trusty breadboard or analog discovery because of noise. Is this right? Thank you everyone for any guidance you can provide.

[rx8pilot]

It seems a little odd to hear a question like this from an EE. What in the world are you hoping to build? An iPad? Galaxy tablet with Android? If that is the case, I would suggest winning the lottery, use the money to build a lab and a very sophisticated team of very seasoned hardware and software people led by PhD computer scientist. It may or may not result in a functional device.

Or you could log on to Amazon and buy an amazing device for less than you would pay for the raw materials building it yourself - even if you had the design and all the software worked out.

[luvini]

maybe something like this, just without the BitScope parts, and add a battery


uses a Raspberry Pi and a Touchscreen

[jonwilhelmjr]

As a very young and fresh engineer I am a very ambitious and I realize that I am definitely biting off more than I can chew. What I am trying to accomplish is something basic. I guess the answer to my question lies with my signal bandwidth and I understand HDMI will be too high of a data rate for me to start with.  Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.

[rx8pilot]

As a very young and fresh engineer I am a very ambitious and I realize that I am definitely biting off more than I can chew. What I am trying to accomplish is something basic. I guess the answer to my question lies with my signal bandwidth and I understand HDMI will be too high of a data rate for me to start with.  Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.

I am also ambitious, so I get it. Biting off more than I can chew started the day I was born. Now that I am 42 years old and have been a work-a-holic, self-educating, maniac for a long time - I have learned HOW to bite off more than I can chew with more grace than I did in my younger days.

Step to surviving too big of a bite.
Step one:
Define what you are trying to accomplish. What is the finish line? What will it do and look like when you are done. Be general, just to get an idea of the magnitude.

Step two:
What professional skills would be needed if this was going to be a commercial product. Again, this is only to get in the ballpark. Mechanical, electrical, software, graphic design, etc. What specialties are needed - high-speed digital design, software design, coding languages, etc. Which of the identified skills do you have and what do you need to learn?

Step three:
Break it up into small pieces and take a WAG at it (Wild ass guess) - how much time/money will this take? In all likelihood you will be totally and completely wrong but it gets the ideas in your head.

Step four:
Decide whether or not the previous steps have overwhelmed you. If yes, stop and think about a smaller project that will lead you toward this goal. If no, go for it. Start brainstorming about the form factor, the critical parts, the block diagram, etc.

Step five:
Let me know how step 1-4 went.

[jonwilhelmjr]

As a very young and fresh engineer I am a very ambitious and I realize that I am definitely biting off more than I can chew. What I am trying to accomplish is something basic. I guess the answer to my question lies with my signal bandwidth and I understand HDMI will be too high of a data rate for me to start with.  Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.

I am also ambitious, so I get it. Biting off more than I can chew started the day I was born. Now that I am 42 years old and have been a work-a-holic, self-educating, maniac for a long time - I have learned HOW to bite off more than I can chew with more grace than I did in my younger days.

Step to surviving too big of a bite.
Step one:
Define what you are trying to accomplish. What is the finish line? What will it do and look like when you are done. Be general, just to get an idea of the magnitude.

Step two:
What professional skills would be needed if this was going to be a commercial product. Again, this is only to get in the ballpark. Mechanical, electrical, software, graphic design, etc. What specialties are needed - high-speed digital design, software design, coding languages, etc. Which of the identified skills do you have and what do you need to learn?

Step three:
Break it up into small pieces and take a WAG at it (Wild ass guess) - how much time/money will this take? In all likelihood you will be totally and completely wrong but it gets the ideas in your head.

Step four:
Decide whether or not the previous steps have overwhelmed you. If yes, stop and think about a smaller project that will lead you toward this goal. If no, go for it. Start brainstorming about the form factor, the critical parts, the block diagram, etc.

Step five:
Let me know how step 1-4 went.

Thank you this helps. I'll take a moment to brainstorm here. What I want to accomplish will start with my presentation to my viewer. My audience will be a possible employer. The person will receive the device and a robot to go with it. I will get to robot in a little bit. So the tablet will most likely be turned off. Goal one, ease of use. Goal two, an os that will allow for ease of use, I find android comes easy to me but rolling my own GUI and avoiding modern operating systems will lower the complexity to a spi display and 8 bit micro. Goal three, wireless communication for connecting to the robot. Goal four, fit this device into a case with power.

Now with my current experience I understand what it takes to attach a 4.3" capacitive touch SPI display to a 8 bit micro. Then write code to draw buttons to control the robot. This could be a month project if done from scratch.

To take on an additional level of complexity, I would like to include an option to view text files so my credentials can be viewed. I also would not mind being able to view pictures or videos to show off other projects.

With my desire to view text files, video, and pictures, I believe I will need a 32 bit processor. Designing a PCB to handle a 32 bit processor, I know will not be the same as a 8 bit processor. After giving it thought my original question of what Oscope to buy will be answered once I answer the question of what processor do I want to use, what will be the processor speed and the rate it needs to access data from the SD card, and finally my display. What bandwidth does the display need or what display do I want. The high resolution display I want the higher bandwidth I need and therefore higher bandwidth Oscope will be required to verify signal integrity.

[Rerouter]

For what you are suggesting, i might suggest looking at mikes electric stuff's ipod display videos centered around an FPGA, its going to be easier to find blocks of code you can copy for an FPGA to stream video in real time to a decent resolution display, while the micro interprets the touchscreen, and updates the position of the pointer and tells the FPGA to load a new screen image,

This way the micro is running light, the fpga does what it does best, and you cut your development time down to 1 month, if you have any kind of background in FPGA's.

[station240]

Just don't accidentally build something like this.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-822-world's-worst-tablet-computer-teardown/

[jonwilhelmjr]

For what you are suggesting, i might suggest looking at mikes electric stuff's ipod display videos centered around an FPGA, its going to be easier to find blocks of code you can copy for an FPGA to stream video in real time to a decent resolution display, while the micro interprets the touchscreen, and updates the position of the pointer and tells the FPGA to load a new screen image,

This way the micro is running light, the fpga does what it does best, and you cut your development time down to 1 month, if you have any kind of background in FPGA's.

I have programmed a FPGA once in high school for our digital lab. I have some FPGAs laying around somewhere that i could give a go.

[jonwilhelmjr]

Just don't accidentally build something like this.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-822-world's-worst-tablet-computer-teardown/

Ooo I hope i never sink to that level but what I had in mind would mimic what they should have done. I hope for a 1 board solution, then speakers, battery, and LCD/touch screen will be the only things connecting to the board.

[sabia]

If you want to impress a potential employer the most fair thing is to show off something that actually represents your skills and interests, right? You are a roboticist, you say. How about showing off something with robots, or at least mechatronics? Sound like you are trying to show off something that doesn't represent who you are...which you are not likely to do well, and you have put the bar way high. Designing a tablet (well!) is almost impossible for a single engineer, let alone one who is a recent graduate and not specialised in all the relevant and required disciplines such as instrumentation, PCB layout, CAD, thermal design, oh, the list is very long indeed! It takes a team of skilled professionals to do this, and it takes years.

As an example, have a look at Lady Gaga's recent performance with a dancing keyboard for her Bowie tribute, with Intel powered rings that que light effects, etc. That is some pretty cool robotic stuff, which gets the imagination going. You are much more likely to impress an employer by using the skills you already have!

Best of luck!