Xbox

Project summary

Mechanistic joined the Xbox program after the console was already in high-volume manufacture. The assignment focused on cost reduction and manufacturability improvements within the constraints of an existing product. I worked on the program in two sprints, returning for the second several months after the first.

EMI liners and assembly interference

Working in the production Pro/ENGINEER database, I developed parallel redesign and optimization alternatives. I modified the top and bottom EMI liners, improving shielding integrity and reducing emissions.

The April 9 and 10, 2002 faxes identified assembly interferences involving the frame and the top and bottom cover structures. I offered dimensioned markups for the vendor. By April 12, I had sent the modified files and reference illustrations to Microsoft’s sheet-metal supplier.

A second sprint: airflow around the drive support

The later work combined changes to the bottom case and drive support bracket in a proposal to replace a power-supply insulator. Microsoft’s May 22 request described a plastic box around the power supply, formed by ribs rising from the bottom case and two flanges extending down from the HDD bracket.

I sent provisional views in June, with further engineering dependent on design and tooling review. Microsoft paused the work for tooling, safety and power-supply review, and deferred the EMI liner changes pending plastics signoff.

I modified the drive support bracket to improve airflow and remove a thermal dead spot. Those bracket modifications subsequently went into production. I did not drive the ECO: I contributed the design changes but was less integrated into Microsoft’s team during that sprint.

GPU active cooling

I also proposed a fan directing airflow onto the GPU, based on the system’s airflow and thermal performance. Microsoft implemented the active cooler. Leslie told me roughly two months later that it was in. I was not closely integrated into the team for this work.

Project CAD