Our Prototyping Philosophy
Tinker...Tinker...Tinker... Take things apart. Build new things using best practices common to the application. When you present an idea, we draw from the past to create a prototype of your idea. At first, rough prototypes help us to expose issues and options; then we develop pre-production prototypes as the development unfurls.
Prototyping Purpose
Before building prototypes, we like to understand the purpose of the prototype. A recent display retrofit project required a power supply to output 3.3V and 12V. With many power supply topologies to choose from, we built a couple of test circuits and wound some transformers. We selected a SEPIC converter topology because the cross regulation was acceptable and the cost was low. The remainder of the circuit was basic, so we went to print with just having tested the power supply portion. After laying out the board, we used our Xilinx development system to output a image to test the new display.
On another project, we were studying a product to determine the prior art for a new invention. We started by reverse engineering the product to learn the art and issues involved. Since we were not designing for production, we used a Microchip development board to develop a prototype. By exploring the existing technology, we were able to add new ideas to the original invention.
My son wanted to make a pool filter. We walked through the shop; picking up: pipe and elbows, a bucket, an old fish pond pump, some silicone and an old pillow (poly-fiberfill makes great filter media). He now has a filter and learned about water flow, head pressure, siphons, electric shock and not to breathe chlorine dust.
We make "paper dolls" to check cabling, pinouts, footprints and mechanical fit.
- Question: What is the difference between a 3D CAD design and a paper doll?
- Answer: The paper doll shows the errors in the 3D CAD design.
Capabilities
A few of our capabilities include:
- Xilinx FPGA and Microchip development tools to control circuits
- A microscope for inspection and fine soldering
- Pieces and parts of all kinds of things
- Hand winding of transformers
- Crimping tools for making cables
- Spice simulations to check circuit theories