From technical concept to working prototype.
The unusual projects: proving whether an idea is feasible, building the first working version, and engineering the test systems around it. Hardware and software developed together, fast.
Reviewed
Hover or focus a component to see what it is and what it talks to. Arrow keys move between them.
Requirements become a bench prototype with real sensors and firmware; a test rig produces data; a pilot unit runs in the field; and the design is handed to production with everything documented.
Components:
- Requirements: What it must measure, survive and cost.
- Bench prototype (MCU + sensors): Dev board, real sensors, real signal chain.
- Firmware: Acquisition, processing, comms, update path.
- Test rig (data): Instrumented tests against known references.
- Pilot unit (in the field): A handful of units where the product will live.
- Production (handoff): Drawings, BOM, test procedure, firmware — yours.
Connections:
- Requirements to Bench prototype over handoff
- Bench prototype to Firmware
- Firmware to Test rig over serial
- Test rig to Pilot unit over handoff
- Pilot unit to Production over handoff
Sound familiar?
- We need to build this, but hiring six specialized engineers isn't practical yet.
What's included
9 services under R&D & Prototyping.
Technical Proof of Concept
Technical proof of concept engineering: isolate your riskiest assumption, build the smallest system that tests it, and get a defensible go/no-go answer fast.
Learn more →Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping services for hardware and software products — functional prototypes built in weeks using dev boards, 3D printing, and tight iteration loops.
Learn more →Experimental Systems
Experimental systems engineering: custom rigs, instrumented testbeds, and one-off machines built to produce trustworthy data for research and development.
Learn more →Product Engineering
Product engineering services that take hardware from prototype to production — DFM, firmware hardening, compliance planning, and manufacturable documentation.
Learn more →Hardware/Software Co-Development
Hardware/software co-development: electronics, firmware, and application software engineered in parallel so interfaces are designed early, not discovered late.
Learn more →Test & Measurement Systems
Test and measurement systems engineering: DAQ hardware, signal conditioning, and analysis software built into rigs that deliver repeatable, defensible data.
Learn more →Engineering Test Automation
Engineering test automation services: HIL rigs, automated regression suites, and scripted instruments that run overnight what engineers now babysit by hand.
Learn more →Technical Architecture & System Design
Technical architecture and system design services that de-risk complex builds: interface contracts, technology selection, and reviewable design documentation.
Learn more →Feasibility Studies
Engineering feasibility studies that answer buildability, cost, and risk with analysis, benchmarks, and targeted experiments — before you commit the capital.
Learn more →How we approach it
Straightforward, in this order.
01
Name the riskiest question
Every R&D effort has one question that decides everything — can the sensor detect it, can the physics work, can the data move fast enough. We design the prototype to answer that first.
02
Build small, learn fast
Functional prototypes in weeks using off-the-shelf hardware and modern tooling. The prototype's job is knowledge, not polish.
03
Hardware and software together
Electronics, sensing, embedded code, and application software designed as one system — avoiding hardware that ships before its software is understood.
04
An honest verdict
Every proof of concept ends with a written answer: what worked, what didn't, what production takes — including 'don't build it' when that's the truth.
Ask about R&D & Prototyping
Describe the problem. Get a straight answer.
One line is enough. An engineer replies within a business day.
Typical engagement
- Shape
- Define the question the prototype must answer, build the smallest thing that answers it, then decide together whether and how to productize.
- Duration
- First working prototype typically four to twelve weeks; productization is scoped separately once the prototype has proven the idea.
- Team
- A multi-discipline pair — typically hardware/embedded plus software — drawing on other specialists as needed.
- You hold at the end
- Requirements and test plan
- Working prototype (hardware, firmware, software as applicable)
- Test results and design files you own
- Productization roadmap and cost drivers
- Pricing
- Scoped per project after a call; fixed-price phases where the scope is firm, time-and-materials where it isn't. How engagements work →
Work it out yourself
What would a system for this look like?
Answer six questions about what you have and what you want, and watch a system diagram assemble itself — machine, sensor, gateway, broker, store, dashboard, alert. Export it, or send it to us as the start of a scope.
How this gets priced
What moves the number, before there is a number.
We publish no rates — every engagement is quoted against a written scope. What we can tell you is what that scope will turn on, so you can see the shape of the price before the call.
Cost drivers
- How much is genuinely unknown versus merely unbuilt
- Environmental and regulatory requirements
- Custom hardware versus off-the-shelf modules
- Number of prototype iterations the schedule allows
- Whether production handoff is in scope
A typical first phase
A proof of concept on the bench answering the one question everything else depends on — can it be measured, can it survive, can it be made — with test data. It ends with a go, a no-go, or a redesign.
What makes it expensive
- Certification-driven design
- Custom silicon or RF
- Field trials in remote or hostile places
What makes it cheaper
- Development boards before custom PCBs
- Answering the riskiest question first
- Reusing a proven signal chain
Who this is for
Built for operators, not for the demo.
Hardware and industrial technology startups, OEMs developing new products, and companies with a technical idea that needs proving before major investment.
Available as a scoped project, contract engineering, or a fractional arrangement — see how we work.
Related insights
From the notes.
Common questions
Asked before every R&D & Prototyping project.
What does a proof of concept deliver?
A working demonstration that answers the riskiest question first — can the sensor detect it, can the model classify it, can the data move fast enough — plus an honest write-up of what we learned and what production would take. Sometimes the answer is 'don't build it,' which is cheap to learn early.
How fast can you build a prototype?
Functional prototypes typically take weeks, not quarters — modern tooling, AI-assisted development, and off-the-shelf hardware make speed possible when scope is disciplined. The point of a prototype is to learn fast, so we keep them deliberately small.
Do you develop hardware and software together?
Yes — co-development is the point. Electronics, sensing, embedded software, and application software are designed as one system, which avoids the classic failure of hardware that ships before the software that runs it is understood.
What happens after the prototype works?
You choose: we can engineer it into a production system, hand it to your team with documentation, or help you evaluate manufacturing partners. The prototype's purpose is to de-risk that decision, not to trap you into one.
Do you sign NDAs and can we keep the IP?
Yes to both. We routinely work under NDA, and everything created in the engagement — designs, code, documentation, test results — belongs to you. Our role is to get your idea working, not to keep a piece of it.
What if the prototype shows the idea doesn't work?
Then you found out at the cheapest possible point, and you will have the data to say why. A well-run prototype is designed to answer a specific question; a clear negative answer, with the reasons documented, is a successful outcome for the budget spent.
Strategy. Software. Systems.
Have a system that should exist?
Tell us what your operation is doing manually, what isn't connected, or what you're trying to build. We'll tell you plainly whether and how we can help.