Anritsu Signature
Exceptional Design
For The Next Generation Signal Analyzer
The Anritsu Signature High Performance Signal Analyzer is Anritsu's flagship entry in the microwave and communications test instrument market segment. Anritsu's legacy as a leading provider of communications solutions extends back more than 100 years and includes a merger in 1990 with microwave instrument leader Wiltron Corporation. The Anritsu Signature is a result of Anritsu's continued pursuit of excellence--a powerful, complete and synergistic signal analysis solution that continues the legacy of high performance microwave and communications test solutions.
IDE played an important role in the design and development of this revolutionary new product. The Signature utilizes a beautifully clear touch panel display screen, which greatly simplifies the user interface, drastically reducing the number of buttons that typically cluttered previous generations of instruments. The Anritsu development team retained IDE for the industrial design of the Signature, including front panel design, ergonomics and GUI (graphical user interface design).
Physical / Virtual Synergy Is The Goal
IDE began the project by bringing in a previous generation signal analyzer to allow designers to familiarize themselves with the physical interface of the instrument. Upon completion of this research, IDE's industrial and graphic design teams began concurrent conceptual studies for the Signature's front panel design and display screen GUI. The goal was to create a synergy between the physical industrial design (physical controls, buttons, knobs and connector ports) and the GUI, displayed on the LCD touch screen.
As the GUI designs evolved from graphical storyboards to interactive HTML web files, which could be accessed remotely by Anritsu's development team, IDE's industrial designers were exploring potential solutions for the organization and placement of the front panel's physical controls. Initial research of how signal analyzers are used by a selection of test engineers revealed that not having to look at the physical controls would allow the test engineers keep their eyes on the all important data on the instrument's display screen while making fine adjustments to the instrument. This analysis resulted in a design strategy utilizing tiered surfaces to organize controls by function and hierarchy, allowing the test engineer to traverse the controls by touch rather than sight.
Front panel designs were initially explored using full-scale CAD renderings and then refined in 3D CAD surface modeling. Several physical foam models were CNC machined from the 3D industrial design CAD surfaces allowing the IDE and Anritsu development teams to evaluate the three dimensionality of the front panel design. Softly tapering brow and chin surfaces were developed to focus attention on the display screen and separate the lower portion of the instrument, where the CD ROM drive and connector test ports are located. Once the design stabilized, IDE's model shop manufactured a final CNC plastic design model for final industrial approval.CNC 3D Machining
Upon approval of the Signature's industrial design, IDE's mechanical engineering team completed the 3D detail design of the die-cast Aluminum front panel and associated plastic buttons resulting in a Pro Engineer 3D assembly data base that was transferred to Anritsu's front panel contract manufacturer. Anritsu's front panel supplier contracted IDE's prototype shop to CNC machine several functional Aluminum prototypes of the die-cast front panel, which were used for the manufacture, assembly and testing of working front panel modules.Cross Platform Design Strategy
Anritsu's marketing group was so pleased with the Signature's industrial design that IDE was retained once again to apply the same design strategy to another family of instruments, the Anritsu MG800 Synthesizers.
