Automotive Burglar Alarm in 60 Days

A client developing a new-generation automotive burglar alarm for the Ford Taurus was behind schedule after a year of work. The device was not functional and could not meet their customer’s requirement.

A major product could be lost if the product was not ready in only 60 days.

MTSI leveraged its experience in precision engineering and swiftness to perform a technical audit. The gate array that had been designed was not working, and could not be made to work without a major redesign — taking many months. The design was also intended to fit completely within a single housing, but there was not enough room for all of the circuits.

Solution

MTSI proposed a redesigned automotive burglar alarm that would use a one-time programmable microcomputer instead of a gate array. The long lead time for parts was eliminated, and the software could be easily modified after testing without waiting for new mask parts.

To securely hold the electronics between the firewall and exhaust pipe, the housing needed to be made of high-temperature plastic. By working closely with a local plastics prototype house, we were able to modify the tooling drawings to allow the necessary electronics to fit.

The electronics for the relays, horn, vibration sensors, battery backup, radio receiver and handheld two-transistor key ring radio transmitter were completely redesigned. A printed circuit card was designed to fit the new plastics housings.

Software was developed using assemblers and simulators on our local area network. A key ring demodulator circuit was eliminated by careful software code writing.

Impact

After many hours of hard work, the design was developed, tested, and proven. The complete and functional system was shipped to Ford for testing on the 60th day of the project.