January 30, 2025
What Makes an Industrial Single Board Computer Truly Industrial?
Designing an industrial single-board computer (SBC) for extreme environments demands attention to quality, durability and performance. Gateworks, with over 27 years of experience, addresses these challenges through a vertically integrated manufacturing process and stringent quality controls broken down in this technical article. If you’re an engineer, system integrator or product manager seeking an industrial single board computer for an embedded application, this is for you.
Quality Control & USA Manufacturing Matters
With in-house Surface Mount Technology (SMT) production and rigorous testing protocols, Gateworks achieves a final pass rate of 99.5%. Gateworks engineers and manufactures its SBCs in California, utilizing a vertically integrated process that ensures total control over quality. Certified to AS9100D/ISO 9001:2015 standards, the manufacturing workflow integrates GWTrack, a proprietary tracking system that enforces step-by-step process adherence, provides transparency and traceability to the component level, and enables real-time quality metrics reporting.
Steps Ensuring Quality Throughout Production:
- Component Traceability: All components receive barcodes upon receipt. During SMT assembly, these barcodes are scanned into GWTrack to provide traceability of each product down to the component level.
- ESD Control: Operators cannot log into the GWTrack system until they’ve certified they have put on ESD protection.
- Quality Checks: Operators are automatically logged off the GW Track system every 45 minutes and a QA supervisor verifies their work process before logging back into the system.
- Enforcement of Process Steps: Products are scanned at each step of the assembly process and must fully pass the previous step before starting the next process. Steps cannot be circumvented and must follow the correct sequence.
- Automated Optical Inspection (AOI): All products undergo AOI to identify defects. Results are logged and must be resolved before proceeding to the next assembly step.
- JTAG IEEE 1149.1 Boundary Scan Testing: All products undergo low-level JTAG testing along with full functional testing. All test results are captured in the database.
- Quality Metrics and Reports: The GWTrack database is updated in real time, enabling the generation of up-to-date quality reports and metrics.
Unlike many overseas manufacturers, we maintain full control over the production process. This allows us to implement rigorous quality checks to ensure every industrial single board computer will meet the highest standards.
Quality Metrics
Gateworks continuously seeks improvements in all process areas to provide the highest quality products. We review key process indicators (KPIs) every week. Key metrics for a recent quarter include:
- Final pass percentage = 99.5%
- On-time delivery = 98%
- Defect Rate = 0.2%
- Technical Support Response Time (average) = 3.38 hours
Industrial-Grade Components
Gateworks exclusively utilizes industrial-grade components rated for extended temperature ranges of -40°C to +85°C. Unlike consumer-grade components often found in competitor products, we rigorously screen components through thermal cycling, stress testing and extended operational life evaluations.
Key Advantages of Industrial-Grade Components:
- Thermal Reliability: Ensuring stable performance in applications subject to rapid heating or cooling cycles. Each component is tested to maintain functionality across the full temperature spectrum without performance degradation.
- Longevity: Industrial-grade components often feature up to 10 times the operational life of consumer-grade counterparts, reducing the total cost of ownership. Minimal degradation under prolonged exposure to extreme conditions results in longer lifespans and lower maintenance requirements.
By prioritizing component selection, Gateworks provides engineers and system integrators with a reliable solution for remote deployments, outdoor installations and mission-critical applications.
Component Sourcing & Trusted Partnerships
Gateworks sources components from authorized distributors to eliminate the risk of counterfeit parts. Gateworks is an NXP Gold Partner, exclusively designing SBCs with NXP processors known for their robust performance and long-term availability. For example, we also use ceramic capacitors for enhanced reliability instead of electrolytic capacitors prone to leakage and shorter lifespans. The capacitor chart below is a brief example of a comparison chart for component selection.
By leveraging carefully selected parts from trusted manufacturers like NXP, Texas Instruments and Microchip, we achieve exceptional mean time between failures (MTBF) and ensure long-term availability with guaranteed lifecycles of 10+ years. We prioritize high-quality components in every single board computer (SBC) to maximize product lifespan and ensure reliability.
Capacitor Type | Material/Dielectric | Key Characteristics | Robustness/Ruggedness Rank | Notes on Robustness |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ceramic Capacitor | Ceramic | High frequency, low ESR, compact size | 1 (Most Rugged) | Highly resistant to temperature, vibration, and mechanical stress. |
Tantalum Capacitor | Tantalum oxide | Stable, high capacitance-to-size ratio | 4 | Susceptible to thermal and electrical overstress. |
Aluminum Electrolytic | Aluminum oxide | High capacitance, affordable | 5 | Prone to leakage, drying out, and reduced lifespan at high temperatures. |
Film Capacitor | Polyester, Polypropylene, etc. | Stable, good for high-voltage applications | 3 | Durable but bulkier; tolerates environmental stresses well. |
Polymer Capacitor | Conductive polymer | High reliability, low ESR, long lifespan | 2 | Rugged and resistant to heat and humidity. |
Supercapacitor | Carbon-based electrodes | Very high capacitance, energy storage applications | 6 | Less rugged; sensitive to overvoltage and mechanical stress. |
Mica Capacitor | Mica | Highly stable, low loss, used in RF circuits | 3 | Durable but fragile in mechanical terms due to construction. |
Glass Capacitor | Glass | High stability, temperature and radiation resistant | 2 | Extremely rugged but expensive and specialized. |
Paper Capacitor | Paper | Old technology, mostly obsolete | 7 (Least Rugged) | Susceptible to moisture and aging. |
Robust Power Supply Design for Critical Applications
Gateworks SBCs feature robust switching power supplies that can handle large instantaneous surges of current required by wireless radios in the multiple M.2 and Mini-PCIe slots. When these radios transmit, they demand power rapidly, which can cause standard power supplies to fold back (droop), potentially leading to radio malfunctions or system resets.
Gateworks SBCs mitigate these issues with a design that ensures stable power delivery, even under sudden load changes. With an input range typically spanning 8-60VDC, these SBCs accommodate a variety of power sources, from vehicle batteries to 48V Telco supplies, providing flexibility across industrial and networking applications. Polarity protection and transient voltage suppression further enhance reliability in fluctuating or poorly controlled power environments. Unlike competitors offering limited voltage ranges (e.g., 5VDC or 5-24VDC), Gateworks SBCs support Power over Ethernet (PoE) with passive and active options.
Gigabit Ethernet with Power over Ethernet (PoE)
Gateworks SBCs feature Gigabit Ethernet, delivering faster data transfer rates compared to competitors offering only 10/100 Ethernet. This ensures faster response times, smooth video streaming and improved system efficiency.
Gateworks SBCs support IEEE 802.3at PoE standards and deliver up to 25.5 watts of power via a single Ethernet cable. This dual-purpose solution simplifies installation and reduces infrastructure costs, supporting both active and passive PoE for greater flexibility. Active input supports 802.3 for up to 25.5 watts, while passive PoE accommodates non-conventional DC inputs.
Secure & Vibration-Resistant Locking Connectors
Gateworks recognizes downtime and failure are not an option for critical applications. To mitigate the risk of disconnections, we offer connectors designed for secure, vibration-resistant performance. Mini-PCIe and M.2 slots secure cards with screws that can be enhanced with thread-locking compounds. Many manufacturers provide only consumer-grade connectors like standard barrel jacks, but Gateworks delivers robust locking solutions for harsh conditions.
Board Protection: Conformal Coating, Staking and Bonding
An industrial single board computer can be further enhanced to ensure successful operation in high shock and vibration environments. To ensure continued performance under extreme conditions, we employ advanced board protection techniques, including conformal coating, staking and bonding.
Conformal coating plays a critical role in safeguarding electronic components from moisture, dust, chemicals and temperature extremes. Gateworks offers acrylic and parylene coating, each suited to specific applications,
- Acrylic coatings, such as Humiseal IB73, offer a cost-effective solution with fair elasticity, good dielectric strength and excellent abrasion and moisture resistance. They are easy to apply and remove, making them a practical choice for general-purpose applications, though they are less resistant to chemicals and solvents.
- Parylene coatings, applied through a vapor phase deposition process, provide superior dielectric strength and exceptional resistance to solvents, moisture, and extreme temperatures. While more expensive and difficult to remove, parylene’s thin application and robust protection make it ideal for mission-critical components in defense and other demanding sectors. Choosing the right conformal coating ensures optimal performance and durability for electronics in challenging industrial settings.
Manufacturers use staking, bonding and underfill as essential techniques to enhance the durability of an industrial single board computer (SBC).
- Staking involves securing components to the PCB using adhesive compounds (epoxy), preventing movement or vibration damage during operation in extreme conditions.
- Bonding strengthens the structural integrity of the board by adhering parts such as connectors, heat sinks or shielding to the PCB, to ensure stable connections and thermal performance.
- Underfill, a specialized adhesive applied beneath components like ball grid arrays (BGAs), provides additional mechanical support and protection by filling gaps to mitigate stress from thermal expansion or shock.
By combining conformal coating, staking, and bonding techniques, Gateworks SBCs deliver reliability for applications in transportation, military and industrial automation. These protective measures ensure that our products provide uninterrupted performance, minimizing maintenance and maximizing uptime.
Industrial Single Board Computer Design Verification
All Gateworks products go through a rigorous Design Verification Test (DVT) to ensure product reliability.
This testing includes:
- Complete Product Design Verification: All product functionalities are verified to ensure proper operation of both the hardware and software. This includes all internal systems such as the CPU, memory and flash, along with all the external I/O interfaces.
- Extended Temperature Testing: All products go through an extensive “4-corners test” which runs a product over the full temperature and voltage ranges with cold soaking at low temperatures to ensure boot-up reliability.
- Boot Reliability Testing: All products run for 10,000 boot-up cycles from a complete power cycle to ensure hardware and software boot reliability.
27 Years of Experience Designing Rugged PCBs
Gateworks’ rugged embedded designs reflect over 27 years of expertise in creating multi-layer PCBs that maximize functionality while maintaining compact form factors. Every PCB meets UL 94V-0 flammability standards, showcasing our commitment to precision engineering.
Advanced manufacturing, rigorous quality assurance and innovative design optimize our SBCs for harsh environments and critical applications. Gateworks continues to lead in providing reliable, scalable solutions for industrial IoT, smart transportation and beyond.
Resources and Further Reading
- The Gateworks Advantage
- Gateworks Quality Commitment
- Gateworks Advanced Manufacturing Facility
- Gateworks Wiki
Explore all of Gateworks Industrial Single Board Computers Made in the USA
- Venice GW7100 – 1x Ethernet, 1x Mini-PCIe, 1x USB
- Venice GW7200 – 2x Ethernet, 2x Mini-PCIe, 1x USB
- VeniceFLEX GW8200 – 2x Ethernet, 2x Flexible Sockets, 1x USB
- Venice GW7300 – 2x Ethernet, 3x Mini-PCIe, 2x USB
- Venice GW7400 – 6x Ethernet, 3x Mini-PCIe, 1x USB, 1x M.2
- View all Gateworks SBCs here.