Every time there is a failure of an autonomous vehicle, it makes front-page news. We are concerned about the development of this new technology and reluctant to trust our safety on the roads to AI we don’t understand. But how “unsafe” are these autonomous vehicles, exactly?

At this time, there have been nearly 200 hundred accidents involving autonomous vehicles in the United States, including a few which resulted in fatalities. It should be noted that, though the accidents all involved autonomous vehicles, most were under direct or partial control of an operator at the time of the accident. 

Probably the most notable of these accidents took place in The Woodlands, TX, in April of 2021, and involved a Tesla vehicle. Though local law enforcement insisted that no one was driving the vehicle, an NTSB investigation disagreed, with security footage and deformity of the steering wheel indicating the driver’s seat was occupied.

Another crash occurred in November of 2018, when an Uber-owned vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian. Though this vehicle had a safety driver, the driver was apparently watching streaming television and was unable to avoid the accident as a result. The end result of the accident was the closure of Uber’s self-driving car development.

In fact, of 187 reports of AV accidents, just two could be attributed to poor systems performance, as opposed to operator error or neglect. By comparison, in 2016, the Department of Transportation reported over 35,000 deaths due to vehicular accidents. The data from the department claims more than 90% of these deaths were associated with human error.

This is not to say that all the bugs have been worked out, of course. In Phoenix, AZ, an autonomous vehicle operated by Waymo was somehow “confused” by a construction zone, resulting in the car blocking a busy intersection. Attempts to recover the vehicle by a technical team then resulted in the vehicle driving away. (The car was eventually recovered.)

Cypress Technologies can assist you with your needs in developing prototypes and manufacturing lines for your autonomous vehicle products. Contact them today to enter the next age of transportation.

ISO-9001 is an international quality management certification based on seven foundational principles. Today, in our ongoing series on ISO-9001, we focus on principle #2: Leadership.

The idea that successful businesses require leadership is hardly an insight. Businesses without successful leadership fail. But what defines leadership?

The quote from the International Standards for Organizations states the following: “Leaders at all levels establish unity of purpose and direction and create conditions in which people are engaged in achieving the organization’s quality objectives.” 

Clear purpose and direction for the organization should be the primary focus of leadership. A definite plan for where the organization is headed makes it possible to implement policies to achieve that goal, and begin allocating time and resources towards those goals.

Communication between all levels in the company is a necessity. Employees who don’t understand the ultimate goal will seldom have any personal investment in the success or failure of the organization as a whole. Communication results in a sense of community, which is necessary to get all levels of the company invested in an “above and beyond” approach to success.

While encouragement and inspiration are important to these goals, accountability within the organization is also critical. Holding leaders to the same standards as employees gives the sense of a level playing field. A sense of entitlement at the highest levels of the organization creates a lack of interest and focus at other levels.

At Cypress Technologies, we believe in the top-down approach to leadership: our leaders are invested in the company goals, and passionate about customer satisfaction. The #1 way to make customers happy is to have committed, engaged, and happy employees who work together toward a common goal of excellence within the field. Visit us today, and learn how our leadership values translate to excellence in contract electronics manufacturing.

The world of medical devices is big and growing quickly. A current estimate by the World Health Organization suggests that there are over 2 million types of “medical devices” currently in use throughout the world. While many are non-electronic (stethoscopes, crutches, etc.), a growing number of medical devices incorporate electronic devices in their construction. Broadly, these electronic medical devices can be divided into three categories: diagnostic, monitoring, and intervention.

Diagnostic medical devices are used by a professional to observe facts about a patient’s health at a specific point in time and render a diagnosis. An example would be an electrocardiograph, which is used to measure the heart’s electrical activity. Readings recorded by the electrocardiograph measure the size and position of each heart chamber, and are utilized to evaluate, among other things, potential damage to the heart.

A monitoring medical device, on the other hand, is used to collect health data over time, usually for patients with an ongoing (“chronic”) condition. This data is then used by a clinician to make recommendations or changes to ongoing health care. An exciting development in monitoring devices is that many of them can be utilized remotely, enabling recommendations for treatment via telehealth or other electronic means of communication. A blood glucose sensor, utilized for patients with diabetes, is an example of one such device. 

Lastly are “intervention” medical devices. These are used specifically to perform procedures across a broad scope of therapeutic areas. An excellent example would be a pacemaker – an electronic device surgically implanted near the heart that uses low-voltage electric shocks to maintain a regular heartbeat.

Cypress Technologies has decades of experience as a leading electronic contract manufacturer. For more information about our medical device manufacturing capabilities and products, contact us today.

When selecting a contract manufacturer for your custom assembly or new prototype, it can be easy to think that price is your only consideration. After all, electronic component manufacturers are all pretty much the same, right? You show up with an idea or some plans and you wind up with a prototype or a new line of equipment, and that’s all there is to it, isn’t there?

And the answer is…not necessarily.

The truth is there are as many types of manufacturing as there are manufacturers. And, in fact, the industry is currently undergoing a shift away from “specialty” manufacturing to a focus on high-volume, low-cost manufacturing lines. This leaves fewer manufacturers available for, and a declining interest in, things like varying application products, varying lot sizes, and prototype generation.

Luckily, in the areas that other companies are retreating from, Cypress Technologies is moving forward. Our manufacturing capabilities are broad, covering everything from electromechanical assembly to box and panel assembly, with an eye toward quality assurance and testing. We take a special interest in high-value assemblies that require a high degree of technical expertise and multiple tests and inspections throughout the manufacturing process. We love working with prototyping and proof-of-concept builds, and some of our greatest success stories have been “back of an envelope” designs and implementations. And our support doesn’t end at the assembly line, as we provide troubleshooting, failure analysis, and repair services, as well as full program documentation for your finished product.

Don’t trust your electronic manufacturing project to just anyone. Give your big idea to a company with years of experience, broad capabilities, and a keen eye for meticulous detail. Contact Cypress Technologies today, and have confidence in your manufacturing line.

When identifying the right company for your contract manufacturing job, you will be faced with a bewildering number of phrases, industry lingo, and abbreviations. One you will see commonly used across the manufacturing industry is “ISO 9001.” Your confusion may deepen when you happen to notice that several different types of companies state that they are ISO 9001 certified, even ones that have nothing to do with manufacturing at all. What gives?

Actually, ISO 9001 is a standard of requirements for a quality management system, based on seven quality management principles. It is not exclusive to manufacturing, but instead can be applied across many industries. ISO actually stands for International Standard for Organization and was formed in 1987 as an international benchmark for companies across the world, regardless of business type or national affiliation.

How does this benefit you, the consumer? A couple of ways. First, it increases productivity and efficiency, resulting in reduced costs that we then pass on to our customers. Secondly, it enhances the customer experience overall, providing direct benefits in speed of production, agility when making changes, and responsiveness to your shifting needs.

Cypress Technologies is very proud of our ISO 9001 certification, and have been certified since 1999. Our training to meet the ISO 9001 requirements allows us unparalleled flexibility and agility in our manufacturing, and when combined with our JIT manufacturing processes, gives maximum agility, flexibility, and cost savings to our clients.

For more information about our ISO 9001 certification, or our manufacturing processes in general, contact us. We’ll be happy to answer your questions about Cypress Technologies, and show you why we are the right choice for your custom electro-mechanical manufacturing needs. Drop by today!