6-Channel Industrial Temperature Controller
Client: Product Design Firm
System Design / UX / Hardware / Firmware / Integration / Trade Studies
Allows an operator to monitor and configure six independent zones from a single location, eliminating redundant controllers and simplifying setup. Switches isolated industrial 24VAC loads and generates high-efficiency onboard DC power from the same source. Designed for the specific needs of industrial settings: highly deterministic firmware timing, automatic failure-mode detection, low-EMI, long MTBF.
Impedance Sensing
Client: Research Design Lab
System Design / Hardware / Integration / Trade Studies / Characterization / Test & Measurement
We specialize in supporting the design community, but that doesn’t stop us from taking on sophisticated technical work. Embedded microcontroller systems, high-speed multilayer design, low-noise/high-bandwidth analog design, EMC, wireless, and parallel processing are all core competencies. To miniaturize a futuristic mixed-signal prototype while simultaneously adding features and improving performance is a big ask. Did it anyway.
Flowmeter Failsafe
Client: Industrial Design Firm
System Design / Hardware / Feasibility Analysis / Trade Studies / Firmware / Design for Manufacturing
An always-on flowmeter monitor watches for unusual flow patterns like leaks or ruptures, and cuts off water when necessary. Project includes algorithm development, UX design, and low-power engineering capable of over 1 year of continuous monitoring on a single 9V battery.
Optical Biometrics Development
Client: Crowdfunded Startup
System Design / Simulation & Analysis / Hardware / Integration
The quickest validation of new techniques and technologies comes by focusing on those alone. To verify a revolutionary new mixed-signal optical data acquisition method for fitness wearables, all the feature-critical hardware was designed into a single expansion board for a standard ARM development platform. By avoiding fully custom system development during prototyping, critical R&D questions are answered as quickly as possible.
Boomerang Drone Expansion
Client: Entrepreneur
System Design / Hardware / Integration / Trade Studies
Every product starts as an idea, and if your idea requires moving electrons around, Scalar can help you understand the business realities and potential compromises involved. Preliminary consultation on a project can quickly reveal architecture definition and potential competitors, which makes it easy to set reliable expectations for performance, cost, and other critical business factors. Not everyone wants to combine DARPA-grade optical-flow stabilization technology with a miniature consumer camera drone, but it's okay if you do.
SCALAR Maker Products
Client: Makers, Everyone
Our main business is design and engineering for others, but every once in a while it's good to have ideas of your own. Designed, manufactured, packaged, and fulfilled in-house, this small product line is inspired by comments and questions from the maker & STEM community and sold back to that community with zero profit motive. Sure, there's no money in it that way. But when you love what you do, this is what fun looks like.