Controlled Capture Systems

We provide proof-of-concept to production schematic capture, printed circuit layout, mechanical design and blueprinting, firmware and software development, artificial intelligence (AI) programming, and preproduction manufacturing services. Using our services, we can help you with any or all phases of :

• Intellectual Property Development
• Electronic Hardware Development
• Software and Firmware Development
• Mechanical Design and Parts Development
• Documentation Development
• Prototype Fabrication

Increasingly, I have also observed that investors require that start-ups and small businesses prove that their new product design idea is designed using the most current electronic parts and device standards. They also require that the design has been reduced to its lowest possible production cost to increase its potential profitability. This poses a very daunting task, especially when one is starting a new business and also trying to develop a new product for sale in the market at the same time.

To ensure that we are using the most up-to-date parts for new product designs for our clients, my company strives to be well versed in the current cutting edge technologies, methodologies, parts, and devices. This is done by signing up to receive new product bulletins from the many electronic device manufacturers and vendors that we use. We also sign up to be notified by our manufacturers of potential end of life scenarios on parts that are currently used in our and our client’s designs. While reviewing these bulletins, we note not only potential substitutes for parts used in current client designs, but also produce a list of potential devices that could be used in future new designs for new clients.

My question to you is this: how does your company, in this ever changing electronics world, ensure that you are using the most up to date and cost effective electronic parts and devices in your new product designs?

The image above is a robotic imaging system that was used to acquire thousands of images of the inside of a grocery store. This system then stitched these images together for a complete internal view of the store, which then allowed for a remote virtual walk-through of the store by vendors and product manufacturers. Here, you can see that the proof of concept prototype started as a crude but effective structure with nine cameras, though as the prototype evolved into a product, it was found that these tasks could be performed by three higher end cameras more efficiently and more cost efficiently. These changes were made due to technology changes to products during the design phase, overstated specifications of products from manufacturers who didn’t understand their products or who never tested their products under the new circumstances presented by the newly developed system, and for several other reasons including cost savings.

I use this robotic imaging system as an example, to illustrate that during the prototyping stage for a product, an easily modifiable framework is typically built. This framework is fluid and will change many times during the development and testing of the product. This is true for both hardware and software products and systems. These changes are typically due to subsection assemblies presenting their limitations and/or incompatibilities, which ironically everyone on the team initially thinks are assets to the product. This leads to reevaluating the hardware and/or software of the prototype design, and then selecting new technology and integrating it into the now existing system for retesting. These steps are essential during product development and design, as they allow new and unseen pathways to be taken for better product development and improved specifications to be made for the product, so that in the end, the team creates a better end product overall. This is the prototype evolution of a paper napkin dream to product reality.