Altium > Case Studies > Engineering Celebrity Joe Grand's Use of Altium Designer for Rapid Electronics Design in TV Show

Engineering Celebrity Joe Grand's Use of Altium Designer for Rapid Electronics Design in TV Show

Technology Category

Processors & Edge Intelligence - Microcontrollers & Printed Circuit Boards
Sensors - Autonomous Driving Sensors

Applicable Industries

Electronics
Equipment & Machinery

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Time Sensitive Networking
Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing

Services

Hardware Design & Engineering Services
Testing & Certification

About The Customer

Joe Grand is a computer engineer who has been involved with computers and electronics since he was seven years old. He began building projects out of Popular Electronics magazine and hand-etched his first circuit board when he was 13. Joe went on to earn a degree in computer engineering before founding his own company, Grand Idea Studio, a product design, development, and licensing firm that specializes in creating consumer and household devices, and modules for electronics hobbyists. In 2008, he was approached by the Discovery Channel to co-host and engineer a new show, Prototype This, which involved creating unique and novel prototypes for each episode.

The Challenge

Joe Grand, a renowned computer engineer and founder of Grand Idea Studio, was approached by the Discovery Channel in 2008 to co-host and engineer a new show, Prototype This. The show involved a team of engineers creating unique and novel prototypes for each episode, requiring skills in mechanics, electronics, materials science, and software engineering. However, the production schedules and timelines of the TV show often trumped the more thoughtful engineering processes required to design and build complex products. Most episodes were allotted only two weeks from concept to finale, with much of the team’s time spent in front of cameras, traveling, or doing interviews. As a result, Joe typically had just a few days to complete the electronics portion of the project, going from hand-built breadboard to final-ready circuit board in a matter of days.

The Solution

To meet the demanding timelines of the TV show, Joe turned to Altium Designer, a professional design suite that he was already familiar with. Altium Designer is an easy-to-use tool that makes fast work of designing both simple and complex circuit boards. It was chosen for its speed, dependability, and fully unified, efficient system that ensures data is synchronized between design domains. This allowed Joe to switch back and forth between schematic and PCB views, knowing that changes made would be reflected in all levels of design. The integrated design features of Altium Designer helped Joe create his systems quickly and reliably, removing the potential for error and ensuring that the designs would work right off the bat.

Operational Impact

The use of Altium Designer allowed Joe to meet the demanding production schedules of the TV show, Prototype This. The tool's speed, dependability, and integrated design features enabled him to quickly and reliably create complex electronic designs, ensuring that they would work right off the bat and eliminating the potential for error. One notable example of the tool suite’s value came in the episode called “Traffic Busting Truck”, where Joe was able to quickly complete the schematic capture and PCB design, which operated exactly as intended and the film shoot came off without a hitch. Even after the show ended, Joe continues to use Altium Designer in his work and is passing on his enthusiasm for the tool to the next generation.

Quantitative Benefit

Reduced design time from weeks to a matter of days
Enabled rapid prototyping for a TV show with tight production schedules
Ensured first-time success of designs, eliminating the need for time-consuming revisions