Need a new feature? Ethernet? USB? GUI?

Sometime you just need a helping hand from someone who's already suffered the pain.
Getting a project off the ground can be daunting, especially when you're on a learning curve.
Keeping up with customers' expectations can be difficult when your core business is specialised.

We can help you out!

No job is too small. If you simply want to get off the ground with an add-on to interface your product to the IOT, Windows, WiFi, USB, we've done it.
No job is too BIG. Perhaps you want to develop a new product line? Maybe you have the idea but need to find the technology to realise it? We've done it.

Consultancy

Consultancy

Your business is your business. If you simply need to get yourself started by choosing an appropriate technology, a component, or just need ideas, we can help. We don't sell or recommend any particular supplier's products.

Coding

Coding

C-based code, whether it be C# for .NET, C++ or plain C for Windows, UNIX, or Embedded Systems - we've got it.

Back-end technologies include PERL and .NET too, if you need to visualise yourself on the internet or intranet.

Hardware

Hardware

We can design your schematic, your board layout, produce gerbers, arrange board manufacture and assembly, or leave any of that to you.

An Ethernet Control Unit, produced by us for a customer, features a 10Mb 802.11 wired interface, 10 year battery backup and RTC, serial interface, SD card and LCD connector. Using a PIC795MX512L and a PHY chip, it's built on a 6-layer PCB. It interfaces using UDP and collects data from various peripherals via an RS422 multi-drop topology at 100kbps.

The ECU is one-time programmed using an ICD3 and subsequently with a bootstrap loader via Ethernet in the field if any firmware upgrades are issued.

Agents

Agents

We don't deal through agencies. You can choose to use us or not. We don't charge by the hour or the day. We don't expect to have an hour for lunch or fill in a timesheet.

If you just want a quick chat feel free to phone. If you want us to come and see you we'll probably charge you for the travelling, as we are not a charity. But we don't expect anyone to add "value" to our services by taking 20% off the top either!

Facilities

Facilities

We are not a laboratory. However, we have a good array of equipment (oscilloscopes, signal generators, power supplies, prototyping boards, PCs etc) with which we can prototype circuitry for you, to the point of demonstration, and we can arrange manufacture with our partners should you wish us to provide proper prototypes.

We have all the usual software products, fully licenced, including MPLAB, MPLAB-X, Visual Studio, SQL Server, Eagle CAD, all versions of Windows from XP to 10, and several Linux versions.

Pricing

Pricing

We don't have a fancy office block. In fact, we're based on a narrowboat on the marvellous River Nene. It's quiet and there are no distractions.

Our pricing reflects that, and what you get for your money is dozens of years of experience.

You'll be pleasantly surprised at how inexpensively you can help your project along. Normally we'll quote you for exactly what you want, nothing open-ended like a daily rate. If it takes longer than we said, we pick up the cost. If we can do it more quickly, we pick up the profit.

You know what you're going to get, and what you're going to pay.

Technologies

Technologies

We're equally at home with a Windows PC, a top-end 32-bit MIPS microcontroller, a UNIX box or even an Arduino.

We can provide solutions using most common languages, e.g. C, C#, C++, SQL and many, many more. We even have expertise in Fortran and COBOL in case you need convert from the 20th century!

We can set you up with hardware if you wish, or use yours.

We won't steer you at a high-end solution when the right one is an 8-pin, 8-bit PIC and an SBC with Windows Home.