ENGINEERING SERVICES
Our Prototype Development Philosophy​
Process Engineering
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Mathematically adapting your concepts to build automated equipment
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Process feedback to controls
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Integration with machine vision and optical sensors
Opto-Mechanical Engineering
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We specialize in the complete execution of an optical design from concept through simulation, tolerancing, and manufacturing
Bulk Solids Engineering
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Solve flow and uniformity issues
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Material testing of cohesive strength and wall friction
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Hopper design
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Pneumatic and screw conveyor design
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Rotary airlocks, mixers, agitators, feeding mechanisms, etc...
EXAMPLES
HEAT EXCHANGERS
For various chemical and distillation processes, we have designed and built heat exchangers.
-Shell and tube: Precision TIG welded, robust stainless steel construction
-Helical
-Brazed and soldered
COLD PLATES
We designed these cold plates, which are used to control the epoxy curing of camera lenses.
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Since 2007, our cold plates have been relied upon for-Metrology: Where pressure fluctuations are decoupled (mechanically) from the structure-Epoxy Lens Replication: Holding temperatures to within ±0.03°C (3σ) -Manufacturing Parts
OVEN DESIGN
We designed and built an oven to encapsulate an entire process. It included a fan for circulation and a broad array of heating coils with 2 layers of thermal protection for explosion hazard from solvent vapors.
MOLECULAR DISTILLATION SYSTEM
We designed, built, and sold 3 explosion proof molecular distillation systems in 2019. This involved mass flow and heat transfer analysis, heat exchanger design, and fabrication.
SCIP (Simultaneous Collimated Illumination Platform)
This optical test set repurposed a JPL illumination platform to scan the field of view of an imaging spectrometer, which Edwin also designed.
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The frame was designed to be extremely rigid to avoid any resonant frequencies at the cryocooler frequency (60Hz) and to be above the vibration isolator cutoff frequency (15Hz). The monochromator was mounted on vibration isolators and it had minimal vibration.
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Edwin designed a system of 'Cassettes' with mirrors to adjust to the individual misalignments in the boresight of the instrument.
One of the resonant modes that Edwin modeled on the SCIP frame.
The completed SCIP successfully minimized the vibration of the cryocoolers to allow precise optical calibration of the imaging spectrometer.
Pouch Opener
Our customer had an issue getting the bottom of a pouch to pop out so that they can fill it with spices.
We built this pouch opener in 1 week. Now it is being used in the factory and is opening 1000s of pouches per day.
Due to in-house Machining and Welding, we completed the functioning product within 1 week
The Pouch Opener was delivered and put into production
CAD Design Completed within 3 days
Button Swivel Puncher
A local firearms accessory customer makes slings which require 1000's of button swivels per month. They are committed to 100% Made-in-USA, but the supply of button swivels was disrupted. Now they are making button swivels in-house.
Because of our machine design experience, we completed our CAD design within 1 week; and it worked the first time.
First test before button swivels introduced
Due to our experienced machining capabilities, we finished the mechanical assembly in house 4 weeks.
Since this is a prototype, we used a scalable controls architecture with lots of room to spare.
