Altium Case Studies Revamping Precision Agriculture: Leica Geosystems' Journey with Altium Designer

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	Revamping Precision Agriculture: Leica Geosystems' Journey with Altium Designer Altium

Revamping Precision Agriculture: Leica Geosystems' Journey with Altium Designer

Altium

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Databases Processors & Edge Intelligence - Microcontrollers & Printed Circuit Boards
Applicable Industries	Agriculture Electronics
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development
Use Cases	Agriculture Disease & Pest Management Time Sensitive Networking
Services	Hardware Design & Engineering Services
Challenge	Leica Geosystems, a company known for its precision farming applications, faced a significant challenge during the development of the Leica mojoRTK, an auto-steer guidance system. The company had outsourced one of its boards to a contractor, a decision that soon proved to be a mistake. The board was returned behind schedule and failed to meet any of its design and manufacturing requirements. This left Leica Geosystems with a defunct PCB and a looming product launch. The company was faced with a critical decision: risk going back to the contractor, or overhaul the design and complete it in-house. The latter option was not going to be easy as the engineers needed to recapture the board design, translate files, and carefully recreate the PCB. Read More
About Customer	Leica Geosystems is a company that specializes in precision farming applications. Their motto is 'when it has to be right,' reflecting their commitment to delivering high-quality, precise solutions. One of their products is the Leica mojoRTK, an auto-steer guidance system designed to enhance precision in farming operations. The company is known for its innovative approach to product development and its commitment to leveraging the latest technology to improve its offerings. Despite facing challenges in the development process, Leica Geosystems is committed to delivering products that meet their high standards and the needs of their customers in the agriculture industry. Read More
Solution	Scott Gemmell, Engineering Manager at Leica Geosystems Agriculture, decided to complete the design in-house. The team had recently upgraded to Altium Designer and decided to leverage its latest features. The most significant change was the introduction of integrated database libraries, which allowed the team to link directly to inventory and components stored in their external databases. This feature enabled engineers to choose and place components from various databases, while creating a library specific to the project. They could also easily update and manage these databases from within their own design space. The integrated libraries also helped the team to source and cost components, reducing product turn-around time. The MCAD-ECAD collaboration technology in Altium Designer allowed the team to reduce revisions and work more closely with its industrial design team. The 3D visualization engine in Altium Designer helped build confidence around the design of the Leica mojoRTK. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Databases

Processors & Edge Intelligence - Microcontrollers & Printed Circuit Boards

Applicable Industries

Agriculture

Electronics

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Agriculture Disease & Pest Management

Time Sensitive Networking

Services

Hardware Design & Engineering Services

Challenge

Leica Geosystems, a company known for its precision farming applications, faced a significant challenge during the development of the Leica mojoRTK, an auto-steer guidance system. The company had outsourced one of its boards to a contractor, a decision that soon proved to be a mistake. The board was returned behind schedule and failed to meet any of its design and manufacturing requirements. This left Leica Geosystems with a defunct PCB and a looming product launch. The company was faced with a critical decision: risk going back to the contractor, or overhaul the design and complete it in-house. The latter option was not going to be easy as the engineers needed to recapture the board design, translate files, and carefully recreate the PCB.

About Customer

Leica Geosystems is a company that specializes in precision farming applications. Their motto is 'when it has to be right,' reflecting their commitment to delivering high-quality, precise solutions. One of their products is the Leica mojoRTK, an auto-steer guidance system designed to enhance precision in farming operations. The company is known for its innovative approach to product development and its commitment to leveraging the latest technology to improve its offerings. Despite facing challenges in the development process, Leica Geosystems is committed to delivering products that meet their high standards and the needs of their customers in the agriculture industry.

Solution

Scott Gemmell, Engineering Manager at Leica Geosystems Agriculture, decided to complete the design in-house. The team had recently upgraded to Altium Designer and decided to leverage its latest features. The most significant change was the introduction of integrated database libraries, which allowed the team to link directly to inventory and components stored in their external databases. This feature enabled engineers to choose and place components from various databases, while creating a library specific to the project. They could also easily update and manage these databases from within their own design space. The integrated libraries also helped the team to source and cost components, reducing product turn-around time. The MCAD-ECAD collaboration technology in Altium Designer allowed the team to reduce revisions and work more closely with its industrial design team. The 3D visualization engine in Altium Designer helped build confidence around the design of the Leica mojoRTK.

Impact #1	The decision to complete the design in-house using Altium Designer led to significant improvements in Leica Geosystems' design process. The integrated database libraries and MCAD-ECAD collaboration technology reduced the number of revisions and improved collaboration with the industrial design team. The 3D visualization engine built confidence around the design of the Leica mojoRTK. The product was successfully launched in January 2008 and has been widely implemented across the agriculture industry. The team is now able to make changes on the spot, knowing that they will be reflected throughout the schematic and board designs. This has improved efficiency and overall performance for the team.

Impact #1

The decision to complete the design in-house using Altium Designer led to significant improvements in Leica Geosystems' design process. The integrated database libraries and MCAD-ECAD collaboration technology reduced the number of revisions and improved collaboration with the industrial design team. The 3D visualization engine built confidence around the design of the Leica mojoRTK. The product was successfully launched in January 2008 and has been widely implemented across the agriculture industry. The team is now able to make changes on the spot, knowing that they will be reflected throughout the schematic and board designs. This has improved efficiency and overall performance for the team.

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Overview

Revamping Precision Agriculture: Leica Geosystems' Journey with Altium Designer

Operational Impact