EmbeddedEra EmbeddedEra

Services

Services

PCB design and layout, schematic design, bill of materials, membrane switch overlay, and enclosures and fixtures; firmware and the software around it — apps, web tools, and dashboards; small-batch SMT assembly and automated test fixtures; obsolete-part redesign and reverse engineering of legacy boards — engineering services from one shop, built with lead-free, RoHS-compliant assembly and verified on our own test station before anything ships.

A freshly soldered panel of EmbeddedEra boards lifted in our open reflow oven, gold heat shielding behind it. Request a quote
01 · Design

Design

Hardware R&D and Product Development

For companies without an in-house hardware team, we act as the R&D department — feasibility and proof-of-concept builds, architecture and part selection, and prototype iterations through a pilot run. We take it from a one-page idea to a tested board and the files to manufacture it. Each phase is scoped and quoted on its own, so you decide how far to take it.

Feasibility studies and proof-of-concept boards; system architecture and part selection; prototype iterations with test data; pilot runs; hand-off package for manufacturing (or manufacture here).

Typical deliverables

Feasibility report with risks and a BOM estimate·Proof-of-concept hardware and test results·Prototype iterations·Production hand-off package

See how hardware R&D works

Printed Circuit Board Design and Layout

Schematic capture through a routed, manufacturable board — stack-up, impedance-controlled traces where the signal needs it, and a layout reviewed against the parts it actually places, not a generic template.

Laid out in KiCad, impedance-controlled where the signal needs it.

Routing of our Cricket board in KiCad: top-layer traces in red, bottom-layer traces in blue, vias, pads and silkscreen outlines.
Typical deliverables

Schematic (PDF + KiCad source)·Routed board files (KiCad)·Gerbers, drill files, and pick-and-place files·Fabrication drawing and stack-up notes

See how PCB design works

Schematic Design

A clean, reviewable schematic as the design record — the thing an engineer can read a year later and trust, not just a step on the way to a layout.

Delivered as PDF plus KiCad source, so it stays readable with or without the tool that made it.

KiCad schematic of a PIC18 microcontroller with LED driver stages.
Typical deliverables

Schematic (PDF + source)·Net and connector list·Design notes on any non-obvious part choice

See how PCB design works

Bill of Materials

A bill of materials built from parts that are actually sourceable, checked against the assembly process before the board is ordered — footprint, orientation, and panelization reviewed as manufacturing decisions, not fixed after the fact.

Sourcing and alternates called out per line, with a DFM review before anything is ordered.

EmbeddedEra bill of materials for the Universal Tester UT-002, Rev A: title block with assembly, PCB and document numbers, and the first parts grouped by type.
Typical deliverables

BOM with sourcing notes and alternates·DFM review notes·Panelization file where applicable

See how PCB design works

Membrane Switch Overlay

Overlay and tactile-switch integration for panel-mount products — graphics, dome placement, and connector routing worked out against the enclosure and the board underneath it, not designed in isolation.

Overlay artwork and tactile-switch integration worked out together, against the enclosure it mounts to.

Typical deliverables

Overlay artwork/print file·Tail and connector spec·Fit check against the enclosure

Mechanical Design, CAD and Fabrication

3D models and assemblies built in SolidWorks or FreeCAD, with production-ready technical drawings — tolerances, finishes, the works — for machined, sheet-metal, or molded parts, not just enclosures. Enclosures, panels, brackets and fixtures are designed against the real board, then cut and printed on our own laser cutter and multi-material 3D printers for a fitted prototype. When volume needs it, the same drawing package goes straight to a machine shop or molder.

SolidWorks and FreeCAD; 2D drawings with tolerances and finish callouts; STEP/STL/DXF; enclosures, sheet metal, brackets, fixtures; in-house laser cutting and multi-material 3D printing.

Typical deliverables

CAD source, STEP and drawings·Cut/print files·Fitted prototype parts·A drawing package for the shop

02 · Firmware

Firmware

Firmware Programming

Firmware written in C, bare-metal or RTOS, against the part's datasheet and errata — not a generated HAL default. We're comfortable working across vendors rather than tied to one, so the right chip drives the design instead of the other way around. On top of that we build the connectivity a product needs — UART, RS-232, RS-485, I²C, SPI, CAN, LIN, USB, Ethernet, BLE, Wi‑Fi, and sub-GHz/2.4 GHz radio — including the wireless links behind a remote control or a radio-linked sensor. We also design how it gets updated once it ships: bootloaders (the chip's own ROM bootloader, USB DFU, or a custom one), over-the-air updates over BLE or Wi‑Fi, and an update path with a fallback image and rollback, so a failed or interrupted update can't brick a unit in the field.

STM32, ESP32, Nordic nRF52, Microchip PIC/AVR/SAM, TI MSP430/CC, and Arduino-compatible. UART, RS-232, RS-485, I²C, SPI, CAN, LIN, USB, Ethernet, BLE, Wi‑Fi, and sub-GHz/2.4 GHz radio. Bootloaders (ROM/system, USB DFU, UART, custom), OTA over BLE and Wi‑Fi, dual-slot updates with rollback, browser-based flashing (Web Serial/WebUSB).

Our firmware that hands an STM32 to its system bootloader for a field update, beside a close-up of an STM32 on one of our prototype boards.
Typical deliverables

Firmware source and build instructions·Register-level notes on non-obvious configuration·A version-pinned release build·Protocol/interface notes·A tested update and recovery path: bootloader, OTA and rollback

See how firmware programming works

Sensor Integration

Getting a trustworthy number out of a sensor and into your product, from the probe to the firmware and through to a per-unit test on the line.

Thermistors (NTC/PTC), thermocouples with cold-junction compensation, RTDs (PT100/PT1000), load cells and strain gauges, IMUs and accelerometers, current sensing (shunt and Hall), humidity, pressure and gas sensors, and encoders.

Typical deliverables

Sensor and front-end design in the schematic·Converter choice and calibration method·Firmware driver in source·Production test step for the sensor path

See how sensor integration works

HMI and Touchscreen Display Development

Touchscreen interfaces for products, built and tuned on the real panel: what the user sees, how it responds to a touch, and how it all sits in the enclosure.

TFT, IPS, LCD, and e-paper panels with capacitive touch over SPI, parallel RGB, and MIPI DSI; LVGL on ESP32 and STM32, or a driver written directly for the panel.

Typical deliverables

Display and touch circuit in the schematic·UI firmware in source·Front panel and overlay artwork·Enclosure fit check

See how HMI development works
03 · Software

Software

Apps and Software for Hardware Products

The software a hardware product needs around it, not just the firmware inside it: mobile companion apps for iOS and Android — BLE pairing, configuration, and firmware updates — and web apps or browser-based device tools such as Web Serial and WebUSB flashers and configurators that need no installer. On the bench, that's desktop utilities for macOS, Linux, and Windows, and the test-station and production software behind our own line. For connected products, it extends to cloud dashboards and device connectivity.

Web apps and browser-based device tools (Web Serial, WebUSB); iOS and Android companion apps (BLE); desktop tools for macOS, Linux, and Windows; Python and C tooling; device dashboards and data logging.

Typical deliverables

Source and build instructions·A signed/installable build where applicable·API and protocol documentation·A maintenance hand-off

04 · Build and test

Build and test

Small-Batch SMT Assembly

Automated surface-mount assembly on our own line, built for start-ups, R&D labs, and pilot runs — from one proof-of-concept board to several hundred units. Parts are placed by machine with dual-camera vision alignment, not by hand, and reflowed lead-free (RoHS). Every board comes off the line and goes straight through the automated test station before it ships, with conformal coating available for boards that live in humidity, vibration or outdoor enclosures.

Down to 0402 · QFN and BGA to 18 × 18 mm

Boards to 8.0 × 10.5 in (200 × 260 mm)

52 reels loaded per run — dense, component-heavy boards in one pass

Dual-camera optical alignment, ±0.02 mm

Lead-free (RoHS) paste and reflow profile

One board to several hundred units

Conformal coating on request

Side view of our pick-and-place machine, with a USB-C component tray and a QFP tray loaded in front of the placement head.
Typical deliverables

Assembled, inspected and tested boards·Per-unit test log·Panel and stencil files·DFM note on anything that fought the process·Coated boards where specified

See how SMT assembly works

The precision of a production line, at the pace of a design studio.

Automated Test Fixtures and 100% Production Testing

Custom test fixtures — pogo-pin or bed-of-nails, with swappable fixture boards — for PCBs and membrane switch overlays, plus the station software that runs the whole test with no operator judgment: power-up and current limits, sleep current for battery products, every indicator read by camera, every overlay key pressed and read. Each unit is serialized and its results logged, so there's a per-serial quality record for returns and audits. We build this for a client's own production floor, or run it here on boards we assemble.

Fixture mechanics designed and built in house (laser-cut and 3D-printed); test firmware and station software; optical verification of LEDs and displays; membrane overlay key-scan testing; serialization and CSV/JSON logs; pass/fail with limits, no manual steps.

Typical deliverables

Fixture hardware and its design files·Test firmware and station software·A written test spec with limits·Per-serial logs and a report format

See how test fixtures work
05 · Redesign

Redesign

Obsolete Parts and Board Redesign

When a part goes end-of-life or NRND — or a shortage hits — we find and qualify an alternative. If the footprint changed, we respin the layout around it, porting the firmware to a new microcontroller or framework when no drop-in replacement exists. Then we rebuild and test the board so the product keeps shipping.

Alternates sourced and cross-referenced; footprint and layout respin in KiCad; firmware ported across vendors — STM32 to Nordic, Microchip to TI, and others — or to a new SDK/RTOS; last-time-buy planning.

Typical deliverables

Alternate-part report with risk notes·Updated schematic, layout, and BOM·Ported firmware release·Tested prototypes

How an obsolete-part redesign works

Reverse Engineering and Legacy Boards

When the documentation is gone — no schematic, no source, and the original designer unreachable — we recover the schematic from the board itself, capture and document its interfaces and protocols, and analyze the firmware where the device allows it. What comes out is a maintainable design record, the same as if the board had been designed here. From there it can be re-manufactured as-is, repaired, or redesigned around parts that are still in production.

Schematic recovery from PCB; interface and protocol capture (UART, RS-232, RS-485, I²C, SPI, CAN, LIN, USB, Ethernet, BLE, Wi‑Fi, and sub-GHz/2.4 GHz radio); firmware extraction and analysis where the device allows; redraw in KiCad; path to the obsolete-part redesign service.

Typical deliverables

Recovered schematic and BOM·Interface/protocol notes·A risk list of parts near end-of-life·A redesign proposal

For products you are authorized to maintain or repair.

Taking Over an Existing Design

When the original designer is gone or the contractor is unavailable, we take over the engineering of a working product: the board, the firmware and the build. It starts with a short call and a paid handover review that defines the work, then comes the fixes, the next prototype builds and a path to production.

Schematic, layout, BOM, firmware source and test setup picked up as they stand; KiCad files, or Altium and Eagle designs, which we move into KiCad.

Typical deliverables

A written handover assessment·A risk list·A plan for the next build·Fixes and prototype builds

How taking over a design works