E-Lab Digital Engineering, Inc. is a contract engineering firm
that specializes in the creation of custom embedded electronics. Our design facilities are equipped for nearly any analog, digital, embedded, or microcontroller design work and our manufacturing facilities enable us to work with you from product concept up through product manufacturing.
Firms just like yours use our state of the art technology for new product development, cost reducing circuitboard redesign, existing product enhancement, and electrical engineering support.
• Concept to Production Engineering
• Electronic Design Consulting • Prototype Creation, Pilot & Production Runs • Easy-ASIC™ IC Creation Service • FCC Approval/ Verification Assistance • Production Engineering Support
E-Lab Digital Engineering, Inc.
Product Design Engineering • Microcontroller System Development • Production Manufacturing
Carefree Industrial Park (816) 257-9954
1600 N. 291 Hwy. Ste. 330 FAX: (816) 257-9945 Independence, MO 64056 engineering@elabinc.com
www.elabinc.com "Embedded Control & Integrated Circuit Solutions" Your Questions Answered Please allow us to answer some of the more commonly asked questions we have received from firms considering the outsourcing of their engineering design work:
Q. We'd like to work with an outside engineering group, but what about costs?
A. The majority of the design work that we perform is bid up front, so all costs are known by you prior to the project's commencement. Because we're familiar with tomorrow's technologies, we can quickly provide you with engineering solutions, oftentimes at a lower final cost than an in- house engineering team could. In addition, our EDE-1 Program (see pricing section) is an ideal solution to pilot runs that mandate a low non-recurring engineering (NRE) design investment.
Q. Since we would not be developing our circuitry entirely in-house, how can we be cer- tain it will function exactly as we desire?
A. Once you've described the desired functionality, we will review your requirements and clarify any points. We will then issue a project bid that will detail all circuit operation. Following your approval we'll design your schematics & firmware, then wire-wrap a prototype circuit to be fully tested by ourselves and you. Finally, a printed circuit board (PCB) layout will be created, and a production-level prototype assembled. We will fully evaluate this final circuit and then sent to you for final verification. Phone, fax, and e-mail combine to form an effective communication system for the exchange of ideas and information between your firm and ours.
Q. How quickly can a product concept or circuit be taken to production?
A. That depends upon the design complexity. For an average design the process (specifica- tion, proof-of-concept, prototyping, coding, de-bugging, client testing, and schematic capture/ PCB production) takes approximately 6-8 weeks. This, of course, this varies with design param- eters such as the duration of client prototype evaluation. Note that this is not to say that an average design requires 6-8 billing weeks, just that the engineering, component acquisition, PCB manufacturing, and shipping to client for testing, etc. spreads the process over this period of time.
Q. We have an engineer/ technician on staff that we would like you to work with on the project. How is this best accomplished?
A. We work well as either an independent design resource or as an extension of your own
design team, bringing new specializations to your in-house engineering department. Your engineering personnel can determine what portion of the design process they would like to perform; perhaps they would like to do the specifying & schematic design, but need microcontroller firmware, PCB layout, and FCC approval guidance to be contracted with us. Whatever your needs, we're happy to work with you on as much or as little of your project as you desire.
We're Experts In • Embedded Electronics Engineering • Digital Hardware Design • Analog Hardware Design • Mixed Signal Design • Microcontroller System Development • C / Assembly Programming • Software/ Firmware Creation • Custom IC Creation • Schematic Capture/ PCB Layout • Battery/ Low Power/ Portable Design • Infrared & Wireless • Sensor & Remote Sensor Monitoring • Industrial Control Systems • Motor/ Motion Control (Robotics, X-Y Tables) • Data Acquisition, Storage, and Analysis Systems • Closed Loop Control ("PID" Feedback) • Digital Signal Processing (DSP) • Analog & Digital Filters • Production Run Board Assembly & Testing • Customer Satisfaction
Our "Easy-ASIC"™ IC Creation Service In addition to our standard engineering capabilities, E-Lab offers a unique service to product designers and engineers: inexpensive, quick-turn custom integrated circuits. By creating customized firmware to your project's specifications we are able to incorporate tre- mendous functionality into a single IC package (economical even in low quantities). This enables you to lower your production cost, reduce circuit board size, decrease parts count, and often enhance functionality over traditional multi-chip designs. Functionality such as multi-channel A/D sensor monitoring, PWM for motor speed control, synchronous/ asynchronous serial data for RS-232/485, SPI, I2C, etc., multiple timers, pulse counters, digital I/O, LCD/ LED display interfaces, and keypad controllers can be combined into one IC. Whether you're developing a new product or need a cost-reducing re-work (inquire about our Component Reduction Program™), we're sure you'll find our Easy-ASIC™ design service to your liking.
Your completed design will be a microcontroller (DIP/SOIC/SSOP/PLCC package)
specially programmed to your specifications. From eight to forty pins and beyond, we'll create an IC especially suited to your requirements, resulting in smaller circuit boards, reduced as- sembly time, and lower per-board cost. Because the design implementation is software, not dedicated silicon, it can be developed quickly and without the tremendous time and cost over- heads associated with traditional custom IC layout. The microcontrollers we use are rugged, reliable devices capable of withstanding the harshest environments. Our "Fabless" IC Cre- ation Service has helped many of our clients meet their needs, both timewise and costwise.
To aid in the rapid development of your custom IC we have created a simple four-page design worksheet that covers the needs of most IC designs. Take a look at our Easy-ASIC Fabless Integrated Circuit Design Worksheet(available from our website or by request) to see how the creation of a custom IC can benefit your product. Check your desired features, fax it back to us and within 48 hours you'll have a quote for the proposed design.
Example of an 18-Pin Custom IC's Pinout. Using a Custom IC in Your Product Can Save Money, Reduce Board Size, and In- crease Reliability!
A Typical Project Design Cycle The following stages depict the progression of a design from concept to production:
One: Specification Contact us concerning a particular design you are considering for development. After you describe the desired functionality to us, we prepare a project bid which details the proposed design's operation and specifies cost. Once approved with a purchase order, a design contract is signed and work com- mences.
Two: Prototyping E-Lab designs the schematics and firmware for your project. A wire-wrap prototype is built and the microcontroller firmware is written. This stage is typically the most time consuming as all design details must be worked out here. Once completed, E-Lab verifies the prototype for correct operation.
Three: Evaluation The wire-wrap prototype is sent to you for evaluation. If you detect any failure to perform consistently with the written specifications in the project bid, E-Lab will make the corrections at this stage. Also, any desired functionality enhancements are re-bid at this time.
Four: PCB Layout
E-Lab creates the artwork for a custom circuit board to be used for the production version of the circuit. Operation of the PCB version of the circuit should be identical to the operation of the wire-wrap unit.
Five: Final Verification
An assembled PCB version of the circuit is sent to you for final verification. You will then verify that board functionality is suitable for your production product.
Six: FCC Clearance & Safety Approval
If necessary, E-Lab can direct you in gaining appropriate FCC documentation, labeling, and safety approvals necessary for product resale.
Seven: Production & Delivery
Depending upon contract terms, E-Lab either produces your completed, assembled boards or we will transfer all copyright and engineering files to you for production.
Note: As mentioned previously, you may choose as many of these design stages as you require. Also, please note that the Easy-ASIC™ Design Service does not require stages Three, Four & Six.
We seek to provide superior services at a reasonable cost. Our billing is based on an
hourly rate that we feel is quite competitive compared with the actual cost of performing all your electronic engineering work in-house. For many firms a true financial savings can be realized through the use of outside experts such as E-Lab.
Our hourly design rate is an affordable $95. Once work is completed, you will be given all engineering files such as C/ Assembly source code, schematic capture files, PCB artwork, etc., as well as ownership of all copyrights to the delivered files. From this point either E-Lab, yourselves, or a third party can produce your designs from the files we provide you.
The EDE-1 Program
A second option you may wish to consider is our EDE-1 Program. We understand that often it is difficult for a firm to expend capital for circuit design, prototyping, testing, etc. prior to ever receiving a dollar of profit from product sales. In an effort to remedy this problem for our clients, we have developed our exclusive EDE-1 Program, which shifts some of the up front engineering design cost to post production, thereby allowing firms to have their product de- signed for less up-front investment.
We are able to offer the EDE-1 Program because in addition to being an engineering design firm we are also experts in final assembled circuit board production. The EDE-1 Pro- gram offers a lower hourly rate ($65), in which E-Lab maintains copyright to all design work. With E-Lab manufacturing the circuit boards (at an estimated cost known during bid time), there are no additional charges involved. Should you for any reason choose to produce the assembled circuit boards yourselves or via a third party, the copyright must be purchased from E-Lab at a cost of $75 x the total number of engineering design hours. For example, a pro- posed design taking 30 hours, at our ordinary hourly rate, would cost $2850. With the EDE-1 Program, the design cost would only be $1950. Then, should you later choose to own the copyrights the additional expense to you would be $2250 ($75 x 30).
We think you'll agree that E-Lab works hard to help your project succeed. We look forward to being of service to you!
