You built the product with AI. The device still needs an engineer.
Small teams now ship software that used to need a department. When the product needs its own electronics, the same team hits a wall: parts, power, radio, EMC, manufacturing. We are the hardware department you plug in for that part.
Where software-first hardware breaks
These are the problems we fix most often when a working dev-board prototype becomes a product.
USB power hides everything
On the desk it runs from a laptop port. On a battery, the radio's current peaks drop the voltage and the processor resets. Battery life is a fraction of the estimate.
The antenna is not a detail
A module that reaches 50 metres on a dev board reaches 5 inside a plastic case next to a battery. Placement, ground and matching decide the range.
Real users plug things in
Static discharge, reversed connectors, long cables and cold mornings. Without protection and margins, returns start in the first month.
CE is not optional
To sell in the EU the product needs EMC and, with a radio, RED compliance. Designing for it from the start costs little; retrofitting costs a respin.
Dev boards are expensive parts
A 25-euro dev board becomes a 6-euro circuit on a custom PCB. At a few hundred units the redesign pays for itself.
Parts must be buyable
The chip in the tutorial may be end-of-life or on a 40-week lead time. We select parts with stock and second sources.
How we plug into a software team
- Your repository, your tools. Firmware lives in your Git repository with CI-friendly builds. Hardware files can live there too.
- A written interface. We agree the boundary between our low-level code and your application: an API, a protocol or a message format. Your team keeps building while we build the board.
- In writing by default. E-mail or a shared open-source chat, and a weekly written report. A call whenever it helps.
- Nothing hidden. Every measurement, capture and design decision is written down so your team understands what they own.
What to send us first
- A photo of the prototype and the list of modules and dev boards used.
- The code, or a link to the repository.
- What the product must do, where it will be used, how it is powered and how many you want to build.
Send us what you have. We tell you what it takes to finish it.
Answer five questions and see an indicative budget in two minutes. When you are ready, sign our NDA, upload your documentation and get a fixed quote. Everything by e-mail, with a call whenever you prefer.