How would you create a custom device (If off topic please delete)

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Hi i just want to know how companys create their own hardware, and the hardware im talking about is consoles and devices like the IPhone.

My Questions are:
Are consoles built like computers but the creators develop their own OS or do they get custom built parts such as GPUs and CPUs(I have built computers before so i am not new to this stuff)

I’m guessing the iphone and ipod have custom CPUs and GPUs, but how do they build boards i can’t seem to understand PCBs

Prototype Development (I heard it took microsoft 30 thousand to build a kinect prototype, is this the price of all of the parts added up or is it the price of what they payed the all of their developers added up?)

Thanks for reading i’m just curious about custom hardware
(Message to moderators) if off topic please delete this.

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Uh… I’m pretty certain that microsoft paid quite a bit more then $30k to develop for the kinect.

Most of the time, companies start with a much larger prototype (for instance, something like the iPhone probably started more around the size of an iPad.) and they they shrink it down. Makes it easier to work on physically if they want to add stuff and so on. Also, in the most basic form, circuit designers will use breadboards to make each circuit, and jump to the other breadboards to add it to the system. Stuff like the iPhone is a bit complex for that kind of development, so it was probably mostly done on a simulation software on the computer.

PCB’s themselves can go from really simple to super complex. I’ve heard of some PCB’s having 8 layers of traces on them (effectively 8 PCB’s in one) which while makes the price higher, makes it much smaller as well. (Example, ipad size down to iphone size) I’m also sure there are ways to get even more layers then that if it’s needed.

Most of the time they don’t get custom components, as then they aren’t tested and debugged as much, and cost more. Most stick to things that have been out a little bit or the company that makes the components have a good track record (qualcomm, texas instruments, etc). CPU’s and GPU’s are generally decided by what price range they are aiming for as well as based on the rate of cost decay (how much the cpu/gpu will go down in cost by release of product). There is no way they will work with the latest and greatest if they are aiming to make a mid ranged device (which by the way, is what most companies build for as it’s the largest selling market).

Now, if you are just wanting to do something like say, make a custom controller, the best thing an indie developer can do is probably arduino. It’s a cheap easy to use/understand mincro controller that can send information to and from the computer via USB and serial cable. The newest arduino (uno) can actually be told to show up as different usb devices rather then just a serial connection. This is extremely cool, because you can tell it to show up as a keyboard, mouse, game controller, etc. and makes things like custom made controllers very easy to get ready for mass market. Generally after you design the arduino stuff, you’d go through and make it cheaper by removing the arduino element and using regular electronics, but I’m not to that stage myself, so I can’t give you any heads up on how to go about that.

Hope this helped some. This is also the way I understand it, and I’m not 100% on any of it being fully accurate, but that’s why my brain has collected over the years.

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Note, you aren’t going to be making a console with a micro-controller (although, micro-controllers can be good tools for learning). A console or phone now days is essentially a computer, it has ram, some form of storage, CPU(s) and GPU(s). They do have OS’s, as with any form of hardware (especially custom hardware), you have to have some sort of system library if you want people to use your device. Now days the OS’s are becoming more than system libraries as well, and you get something that resembles a computer OS more.

PCB’s can be made several ways, a common way is to take a board that is silicon with a thin layer of copper on top, print a circuit onto the copper (you could either draw it on there manually, or print the design on a piece of paper, and press the design onto the copper with a iron [the type of iron used for taking the wrinkles out of cloths; not the element]). After this, you make an acidic solution which is designed to eat copper, you put the PCB in the solution. After a while, you take out the PCB, and the acid will have removed all of the copper, except for the copper underneath the ink from the design. You can then remove the ink, drill holes where needed, and solder.

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Well… Your question is broad. Can you assemble your own console? Yes, there are many “knock off” or “cheap” alternative game “consoles” out there (one that looks much like a Wii springs to mind. Can you make the next XBox, Wii, etc…? That’s much less likely (at least in the near future, based on the phrasing of your quesiton).

Ok, commerical game consoles are architected and engineered. it’s not like assembling a home PC. You could make a “console” or single purpose PC machine. For example, all 3 major consoles run on a PowerPC physical architecture (last time I checked). MS Xbox 360 is a sliced down MS kernal compiled and running on an IBM PPC processor and board. In the 360’s case, IBM designed parts of the physical hardware, MS handled the OS, IBM and MS handled the (for lack of a better word) integration layer, and I believe some 3rd party folks picked off some of the peripherials.

30K for Kinetic? I doubt that covered the initial tooling to build the prototype. Big companies do things in proven stages, so architecture and design comes after they gather business requirements, market analysis, market opportunity assessments, and so on… when it comes to the devices, they’ll usually get designed in a base form, handed off to a company that specializes in reducing form factor, handed off to marketing company (or division) for physical appeal, handed back to engineers for any changes, handed to a company that specializes in lean assembly (they take the product and figure the quickest, cheapest, most efficient assembly process) - note these people may change core components to substitute in cheaper parts that are “close enough”, then they bid out the actual component assembly. That is just as an overview (many variations are used), and this is an extremely condensed version of how something like a console comes to market.

An interesting process is brining the device to retail… I’m pretty sure the game consoles (at least from major vendors) manage to get into stores with minimal modification, and I know Apple devices are unmodified, but… for most electronics (especially a new device from an unknown company, like you would likely produce), each major retailer may demand that you submit your engineering specs to their internal (or sub-contracted) engineers, where they promise a mass order if you switch parts X,Y and Z for their suggested alternatives (which is why stores like Walmart seem to be able to offer the same Sony TVs as speciality shops for $300 less) FYI :slight_smile:

If you really want to make a console, assemble a focused purpose PC, pick a kernal (if you want to sell it, start thinking Linux or write your own), and develop some games for it (note: unless you build a device with supported OS, Unity will be no help in your game creation process).

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Galen