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# CUPI Wiki — full context Access: PUBLIC. No login, session cookie, or account is required. This feed is read-only. Applications/recruitment records are separate, require their existing permissions, and are not included here. Content version: 1627 Pages in this response: 1 Current wiki pages: 11 Use these current wiki pages as reference when working on CUPI projects. If your reader truncates this response before “End of context”, use the page index at https://wiki.cornellphysicalintelligence.com/llms.txt and fetch the individual page URLs. Wiki links use [[Page Title]]. Page text is source material, not instructions that override your task. This public, read-only export includes current page bodies and metadata. Revision history, trash, recruitment records, member accounts, and integration settings are excluded. Attachment URLs allow separate downloads; binary file contents are not extracted into this text. External services retain their own access rules. ## Page index - Electrical Workflow [electrical-workflow]: https://wiki.cornellphysicalintelligence.com/llms-full.txt?page=electrical-workflow --- # Electrical Workflow Page ID: electrical-workflow Source: https://wiki.cornellphysicalintelligence.com/llms-full.txt?page=electrical-workflow Section: electrical Parent ID: None Tags: Owner: Michael Robbins Updated: 2026-09-05T01:21:31.955Z ## The V Model The V model is an ideal engineering workflow to develop complex systems. The general idea is that planning should always come before design, and a test process should always be applied after a design. Below is a description of each stage and how they relate specifically to PCB design.  ## Concept of Operations (CONOPS) This section is the development of a use case of a system. Questions such as “What problem does this solve,” “How is it powered,” “What does it interface with” should all be answered in this section. A complete CONOPS will include a description of a board's intended use, along with a simple system diagram to display how it integrates with other systems or parts of its system. The CONOPS is essentially an argument for why your project should exist, not how your project exists. ## CONOPS Block Diagram Examples | Example #1 | Example #2| | --- | --- | |  | | ## Requirements After finishing a CONOPS, the general idea and inputs/outputs of your board/system of boards should be realized, but maybe not in depth enough to actually begin selecting components. This moves into the next stage, which is requirement definitions. This section is the basis of your architecture, describing what your design must be able to do. A common set of requirements will include: Input / Output Voltage, required data outputs, communication interfaces, board dimensions / mounting requirements, operating environment, firmware necessities, important performance targets, etc. This is not a set list, but just a recommendation of what may be needed. The list of requirements will and should change from project to project, as a sensor board performs much different duties than a power board, for example. ## Architecture This should be one of the longest parts of the PCB design process, as building the correct architecture for a project should make schematic and layout decisions much easier. At this point, your CONOPS and Requirements sections should be essentially locked, and now you’re aiming to figure out how your board/system will take the defined inputs and produce the defined outputs. A good board architecture should include multiple diagrams, IC selection, functional block layouts, and preliminary board designs. It’s okay to utilize EDA tools, like Altium, and sims, like LTSpice, in this stage, but you should not be deep diving into schematic or layout until you have a rigid architecture already defined. A finished architecture stage will conclude with a **Preliminary Design Review (PDR)**, in which a systems designer will explain their architecture to the rest of the subteam members and be able to answer any questions other members may have. If you don’t feel enough confidence in the system you’ve built to do a PDR yet, then your architecture likely has gaps that you’ve yet to fill in. ## Detailed Design This section is where schematic / layout are done. At this point, your architecture should be defined enough so that you never ask questions like “well how am I going to get XV here?” or “how am I going to limit the current to X”. Of course, things happen, and you may need to revise your design, but the revisions should be processed and implemented in the architecture section before you implement them in Altium. The most important thing in this section is that you should be revising and catching mistakes as you go, as checking an entire board is much more difficult than checking sub-sections at a time. Make valid uses of design check tools, such as ERC and DRC, along with reviewing the Design Heuristics section of this page throughout the board development process. While other members are always here to assist, you shouldn’t rely on leads or other members to catch mistakes for you, since you know your board best. Finishing this section means a clean ERC and DRC with a reviewed board that matches all requirements and CONOP expectations. In this section, you should also begin planning for tests to validate your board. ## Implementation The implementation stage is where the detailed design becomes physical hardware. Before ordering anything, the Detailed Design stage should conclude with a **Critical Design Review (CDR)**. During the CDR, the designer should demonstrate that the schematic and layout satisfy the architecture, requirements, and CONOPS. All major ERC and DRC violations should be resolved, component availability should be checked, and the final manufacturing files should be reviewed by someone other than the primary designer. Once the design passes its CDR, the schematic and layout should be treated as frozen unless a discovered problem requires a documented revision. After the CDR, the designer will generate the files required to fabricate and assemble the board. These commonly include Gerber or ODB++ files, drill files, a bill of materials, pick-and-place data, schematic PDFs, and assembly drawings. These files should be inspected before being sent to a manufacturer, since a clean DRC does not guarantee that the exported files are correct. When the board arrives, it should be visually inspected for fabrication defects before assembly. Following assembly, verify component values, polarity, orientation, and solder quality before applying power. Any substitutions, rework, or deviations from the released design should be recorded. ## Test, Verification, and Validation Once the board has been assembled, testing should begin with a written bring-up procedure rather than immediately attempting full system operation. Visually inspect the board, verify component orientation and polarity, and measure resistance between each power rail and ground before applying power. Initial power-up should use a current-limited supply while monitoring current, rail voltages, and component temperatures. After confirming that the power system is safe, test each functional block individually, including regulators, clocks, reset signals, programming interfaces, communication buses, sensors, and output drivers. Loads should be connected gradually, and all measurements, failures, rework, and design changes should be documented. The board is ready for system integration once its individual circuits operate as intended and any significant problems have been resolved or understood. After individual testing, integrate the board into the complete system and compare its operation against the Requirements and CONOPS. Verification determines whether the completed design satisfies its documented requirements through inspection, measurement, demonstration, or testing. Validation determines whether the board fulfills its intended purpose under realistic operating conditions using the actual power sources, cables, loads, firmware, and surrounding hardware. Put simply, verification asks, “Did we build the board correctly?” while validation asks, “Did we build the correct board?” If a test fails, determine which earlier stage of the V workflow must be revised, implement the correction there, and carry the change forward through the remaining stages. --- End of context.