A Group Division Director of a Fortune 1000 technology company contacted us to finish a half completed project – an R&D work that had been going on for more than a year. They had a loosely designed prototype, an 8” x 8” multilayered, mixed signal embedded system board that worked partially, but had several problems. The system also needed updated functionality and its menu structure also needed to be overhauled. Additional features such as secure in-situ code updates were also desired. Galvanically isolated, surge protected, polarity independent, loop powered I/O blocks such as 4-20mA outputs and pulse outputs were required to be incorporated. After a string of phone conferences and proposal exchanges, the contract was finally awarded to Ascenten. The challenge was to completely redesign the hardware and software, add the new functionality and deliver fresh working prototypes in 3 months and production grade prototypes in 2 subsequent months. We started work on the project in two months with 3 engineers working full time on the project.

 

To ease out efforts on client’s side our engineers took the initiative to prepare a detailed list of questions on the specifications, proposed our own ideas, proposed the menu structure, proposed the method by which in-situ code updates would occur and finally converged to a feasible specification set with minimal involvement of the client. Various standards and new technologies were studied in detail. The coding was done in C.  Simultaneously, the schematic design and layout activities progressed. We had bi-weekly meetings with client to apprise them of the development and ask any queries on the requirements that may have sprung up during the course of the project. Eventually in 3 months the first prototypes were assembled and a formal testing began.

The customer were clearly impressed once they performed detailed test on the prototypes. Subsequently they invited us and discussed further work assignments which included design and development of several new products and technologies. They were convinced that we could pick up any new technology and deliver precise and timely results. Over several months we initiated several projects for the customer. Looking at our technical competence, proactive approach and attention to the detail; they developed a strong sense of trust on Ascenten.

In few months, our first design was tested for EMC and Surge. The EMC tests succeeded, however the surge tests damaged the internal power supply. Within a week we fixed the problem by adding additional protection and delivered new prototypes which would pass all compliance tests. The project was formally considered complete. Following our success we mutually entered into a multi-year R&D Partnership Program to become their primary supplier of Hardware Design, Embedded Software and Product Engineering Services deploying several well skilled and experienced engineers both on-site and off-site.

Under the R&D Partnership Program, Ascenten provides top end engineering services on demand that range from turnkey product engineering to engineering projects like researching and writing specifications, performing feasibility research, evaluating and recommending new technologies, investigating and comparing hardware platforms and operating systems, designing and analyzing algorithms, embedded firmware development, application software development, bug solving in legacy systems, circuit design, PCB layout design and mechanical design. The customer continues to benefit immensely with state-of-the-art innovation, increased efficiency, increased reliability, reduced time to market and lower costs.