Electronics and automation

Sometimes the part isn't the problem. The problem is that something has to work: move on its own, open from a phone, respond to a button, or keep doing its job after the manufacturer stopped supporting it.

In these jobs the work doesn't end with a printed part. It includes the electronics that drive it, the program that decides what it does and the case where it is all mounted. It is delivered as an assembly that works, not as a pile of parts.

What it covers

Microcontroller control and its programming, with the states and the safety conditions worked out for the specific case. When there are moving parts, the order matters as much as the movement: a mechanism that has to come out before it goes down cannot be allowed to do it the other way round, not even once.

Integration with what is already installed, including equipment left without manufacturer support. Often a module compatible with the usual home automation systems —Tuya, Alexa, Google— can be added in parallel, and the equipment can then be managed remotely while keeping all its original electronics.

And recovering equipment rather than replacing it. When something breaks, it almost never breaks entirely: what is still sound is reused instead of scrapping the whole thing.

What we need in order to quote

• What it has to do, described the way you would explain it to whoever is going to use it: what happens when you press, what should happen by itself, and what must never happen.
• What is already installed and running: make and model of the equipment, whether it has controls, whether it is connected to anything.
• Where it is mounted and what powers it.
• Whether it has to integrate with a particular app or home system.

With that we can answer the first question of all, which is almost always the same one: whether the problem is solved by making use of what is already there, or whether it is worth starting from scratch.

Reusing usually works out better

Not to save money, but because equipment that is already installed has proved that it works where it is. Adding capabilities on top of it is almost always less risky than replacing the whole thing with something new that has yet to prove it.