Process
How a project runs
Six phases. Each one ends with files in your hands, so you can stop, change direction or take the work elsewhere at any point.
- 01
Scope and quote
Before anything is drawn.A call or an email thread establishes what the board has to do, what it must fit inside, what it may cost per unit and how many are needed. Vague answers are fine here; the point is to find the constraints that bind.
The result is a short written brief and a quote: a fixed price where the scope is clear, or an hourly estimate with a ceiling where it is not. Nothing starts until that is agreed in writing.
You receive
- Written requirements brief
- Fixed quote or capped estimate
- NDA if you want one
- 02
Architecture and schematic
The expensive decisions.Part selection comes first: the microcontroller, power topology, connectors and anything with a long lead time. Availability and second sources are checked now, not after layout.
The schematic is then captured and sent for review, annotated where the reasoning is not obvious. You see it before routing begins. A schematic error caught here costs an email; the same error caught later costs a fab run.
You receive
- Block diagram
- Reviewed schematic (PDF + sources)
- Preliminary BOM with alternates
- 03
Layout
Placement and routing.The stackup is chosen for the signals on the board, with impedance control where it is needed and not billed where it is not. Placement, power distribution, return paths and thermal relief are settled before routing starts.
DFM rules come from the fab house that will build the board, not from a generic default, so quotes come back without engineering queries attached.
You receive
- Gerber / ODB++ and drill files
- Pick-and-place and assembly drawings
- 3D model for enclosure fit
- 04
Firmware
Written on the real board.Drivers and application code are developed on the prototype itself, not an evaluation kit, so the bugs found are the ones that matter. Builds are reproducible and version-controlled from the first commit.
Logic that warrants it is covered by host-side unit tests, so a change six months later does not quietly break a peripheral nobody has touched since.
You receive
- Firmware sources with build instructions
- Bootloader / update path where required
- Test and CI setup
- 05
Bring-up and iteration
One revision is normal.Prototypes are powered up in stages, measured, and debugged with a scope and logic analyser. Findings are written down, including the ones that turn out to be non-issues.
Most projects need one revision. It is planned for, and change notes explain what moved and why.
You receive
- Bring-up report
- Errata and change notes
- Revised board files
- 06
Handover
You own the result.Everything needed to build the product again without us: sources, manufacturing outputs, BOM, firmware, and documentation written for the next engineer.
Support after handover is available hourly or on retainer. It is not the only way to keep the product running.
You receive
- Full source and output package
- Documentation set
- Optional support agreement
Sound like the way you want to work?
The first conversation costs nothing and usually settles more than a specification document does.