Prototyping & Bring-Up
From first article to a board you can trust on a bench.
What you receive
- Prototype build package and kitted BOM
- First-article inspection report
- Structured bring-up procedure and results
- Characterisation data against the specification
- Issue register with root cause and disposition
- Release-candidate revision and change log
Capabilities
How we approach it.
Build packages that survive contact with an assembler
Complete fabrication and assembly data, a kitted BOM with real part numbers and reels, centroid and paste data, and an assembly drawing that answers the questions before they are asked by email.
Bring-up as a written procedure
Power rails verified in sequence at low current before the processor is allowed to run, then clocks, then reset, then each peripheral. Every step has an expected value and a recorded result.
Characterisation against the specification
Efficiency curves, ripple, thermal images under load, sensor accuracy across the operating range, radio range and sensitivity, and current draw per mode. Measured, tabulated and compared with the target.
Fast, honest iteration
Two to three prototype revisions is normal and healthy. We batch findings, prove the fix on reworked hardware where we can, and carry a change log that explains every difference between revisions.
Enclosure and mechanical fit checks
3D-printed housings and board-level fit checks catch the connector that fouls a boss or the standoff that lands on a track, at a stage where moving it costs nothing.
Pre-compliance early, not at the end
Near-field probing and conducted emissions on the first prototype find the problems while the layout can still change, instead of during a booked chamber slot with tooling already committed.
Prototyping exists to answer questions, and the value of a prototype is measured by how many it answers per revision. A build that arrives without a bring-up plan usually answers one.
Before boards arrive
The bring-up procedure is written while the boards are in fabrication: what gets powered, in what order, at what current limit, and what each rail should read. Test points are already on the board because the same team laid it out.
Power first, always
Rails are brought up on a current-limited supply with the processor held in reset. A short found at 50 mA is a curiosity; the same short found at full current is a scrapped board and a day lost.
Characterise, do not just demonstrate
A prototype that "works" tells you little. We measure against the specification across the operating range — temperature, supply tolerance, load — and report where the margin actually sits. That data is what makes the next revision the last one.
Every finding recorded
Issues get a number, a root cause, a proposed disposition and a decision. Nothing is fixed silently. When you take the design to manufacture, the register is the evidence that the remaining risks are known and accepted.
Tooling & standards
What we work with.
- Build
- Quick-turn 2–8 layer fabrication
- Prototype SMT assembly
- Manual rework to 0201 / BGA
- Bench
- 4-channel 500 MHz scopes
- Current analysers
- Thermal camera
- Spectrum analyser
- Near-field probe set
- Programmable loads
- Mechanical
- FDM and SLA printing
- STEP exchange with mechanical CAD
Related work
Where we have applied it.
2023High-Efficiency GaN Motor Drive
A 3 kW three-phase servo drive using GaN half-bridges, reaching 97.4 % peak efficiency in a 40 % smaller envelope.
Circuit · PCB · Prototyping
2023AgritechMulti-Depth Soil Sensing Node
A solar-assisted LoRaWAN soil probe measuring moisture and temperature at four depths, with a five-year field life.
Embedded · Circuit · Prototyping
Adjacent services
Often needed alongside.
Circuit & Schematic Design
Clean, scalable and well documented schematics that form a solid foundation.
PCB Layout & High-Speed Design
High speed, high density PCBs designed with precision and reliability.
Embedded Systems & Firmware
Firmware and embedded solutions that bring intelligence to your product.
Common questions
Can you take a project from a napkin sketch through to production?
Yes — that is the common case. Discovery turns the concept into a written specification, and we carry it through schematic, layout, firmware, prototyping, compliance and manufacturing transfer. You can also join at any single stage if you already have work in progress.
Do we own the design files at the end?
Always, and without negotiation. You receive the Altium or KiCad source project, firmware repositories, build systems, test procedures and manufacturing data. There is no scenario where you need us in order to build your own product.
Will you work with our existing manufacturer?
Yes. We review against their published capability rather than a generic rule set, and we handle the technical liaison during quoting, first article and ramp. If you would like an introduction to a manufacturer instead, we can evaluate options on like-for-like terms.
How do you handle NDAs and confidential work?
We sign your NDA before any technical discussion — sending your own is the fastest route. Roughly a third of our work is under confidentiality and does not appear in our case studies at all.
Have a board that needs designing?
Send us the constraints — schematic, mechanical envelope, volume, timeline. You will get a considered response from an engineer within one business day, not a brochure.
We reply within one business day, from an engineer.