Our core staff has extensive experience with a range of hardware, software, industries, analysis and applications.

You can learn more about what types of projects can be automated at Why automate. There you will find information about sensing, control, and analysis possibilities as well as types of user interfaces available.

For capabilities of the Group at large, see our Group specialties, arranged by electrical disciplines, mechanical disciplines, software disciplines, industrial processes, creative areas and bonus features.

Read about specific projects in our Case Studies.

Of course you can contact us anytime to find out how we can meet your needs.

HARDWARE

PROCESSORS:

• MicroChip PIC 12x, 16x, 18x, 24x and 33x
• Motorola 680x0, 683xx, Power PC, and DSP563xx
• 8051 and derivatives
• ADI Blackfin
• ARM - Including EnergyMicro, NXP and ST32
• 80x86
• Zilog Z-80, Z-8, HD64180
• TI DSP (TMS320, MSP430)

DEVICES:

• keypads, displays, view screens
• other user interfaces
• stepper motors
• line scan cameras
• credit card readers
• dollar bill readers
• receipt printers
• light sources
• laser and vision systems
• RF (radio frequency) sensors
• IR (infrared) sensors
• ultrasound
• computerized cameras
• custom printed circuit boards
• custom enclosure designs for dusty or high vibration environments
• embedded systems design
• battery-powered devices

EQUIPMENT:

• vending door lock/release
• wood scanner, chop saw, rip saw, lumber sorter
• patented hydraulic press
• automated aggregate separator
• high-voltage, high-power fuel cells
• coupon sorter
• handheld battery-powered devices
• continuous process line
• paper mill equipment

TOOLS:

• Avocet and Metrowerks compilers for the Motorola family of processors
• Archimedes C Compiler for 8051
• Metalink emulators for 8051
• EST and HP emulators for PowerPC
• ICEPIC and ICD for Microchip family
• Code Composer Studio for TI DSP
• ADI Visual C++
• IAR and Keil for ARM
• various Logic Analyzers
• oscilloscopes
• general test equipment

SOFTWARE

PROGRAMS/LANGUAGES:

• SDS C++ for 680x0 and PowerPC
• Borland C/C++ and Python for Windows
• Microsoft Visual C++
• Blackfin Visual C++
• Python and gcc for Linux
• Sun UNIX, X-Windows and general UNIX tools
• Mitsubishi PLCs
• Ladder Logic programming for PLCs
• Various versions of C including: MISRA-C, EmbeddedC and PICC

OPERATING SYSTEMS/NETWORKS:

• VxWorks, pSOS
• DOS, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP
• Ubuntu, Debian
• TCP/IP
• ATM

CONTROL STRATEGIES:

• optimization routines
• stepper motor positioning
• real-time motion and position control
• low speed motion control
• very high speed, real-time control
• vision-based inspection and control
• wireless monitoring and control

DEVICE DRIVERS:

• network drivers, including ATM, Ethernet, RS-485, RS-232
• custom device drivers for ADSL, ISDN, POTS, OC-3c
• interface drivers for custom FPGA, ASIC
• display drivers
• keypad controls

INDUSTRIES SERVED

• ceramic parts manufacture
• computer design and manufacture
• controls for thermostats
• coupon sorting
• digital data transport
• flower vending
• high-speed communications such as fiber to the curb digital transport
• lumber industry
• manufacturing secure papers for money
• materials handling
• online credit card verification
• paper and other non-woven materials
• pharmacies
• printed circuit boards manufacture
• retail vending (cash and credit validation)
• road building
• telephony and telecommunications
• textiles
• wood products, flooring, furniture and cabinets

ANALYSIS

• data collection in time-motion studies
• dollar bill validation
• image capture
• pattern recognition
• defect tracking
• visual inspection systems
• barcode interpretation
• customer support modules for retail receipt and audit printing, diagnostics and fault reporting
• documentation, test, installation, and customer support
• construction of system test fixtures
• interfacing system tests to simulation hardware
• remote data collection and processing

SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS

Sample Application	Service Provided
flower vending machine	redesigned hardware and software
dollar bill printing	designed system to visually inspect security threads
heating and cooling (HVAC)	designed remote control
road surface material composition	designed controls for vibration separation and analysis of components
high speed woodcutting saws	developed protoype, developed optimization software to move saw blades to base cuts on orders and minimize waste
wood defect scanner	designed prototype to inspect for visible and non-visible flaws
automatic lumber sorter	designed and wrote PLC code
ceramic parts manufacture	controlled complex motion of high pressure patented hydraulic presses
printed circuit boards	automatic visual inspection for defects
coupon sorting	automated process to count 36,000/hr
fuel cells	monitored high voltage, high power cells for temperature and voltage safety and alarm
telephone network	developed and implemented remote diagnostic methodology, wrote control software for service cards, controlled response of system, upgraded software from copper to fiber system
switched digital video systems	wrote drivers and automated high volume load testing for system operating over optic fiber
battery-powered combustion analyzer	designed to collect data and search for combustion problems in automobiles
sewing machine	modified to automatically attach labels to T-shirts
paper and non-woven materials	wrote control software to visually inspect
memory management system	designed and implemented system for new hardware used in personal computers